THE JOINT Congressional Hearing on the Visayas power crisis at L’ Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City on Saturday, October 3, turned into a “confession room” for Energy Secretary Sharon Garin.
Garin has been widely criticized over the months-long power woes gripping the Visayas.
The country’s energy czar acknowledged that the current power crisis in the Visayas — specifically in Panay and Negros — was caused by poor energy forecasting.
And because of this planning failure, the Department of Energy (DOE) failed to ensure adequate power supply in the Visayas amid the crisis.
In effect, Garin’s power(ful) confession took much of the public blame away from the transmission and distribution agencies.
But can we blame Garin for telling the truth?
Nope!
She merely inherited a problem that had already metastasized throughout the power industry.
BLAME EPIRA
So, who’s to blame?
Simple: the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.
This 25-year-old law is already outdated and, therefore, no longer fully responsive to the needs of the times.
EPIRA was born during the coal-fired era. It was largely designed around big baseload power plants, not the rapid integration of highly decentralized and intermittent solar and wind technologies.
Hence, the influx of diverse clean energy resources poses new challenges to grid stability.
In power industry parlance, EPIRA is technically and structurally ill-equipped to address the highly variable and intermittent nature of modern solar and wind technologies.
Certain provisions of the law separate power generation from grid-stabilizing obligations.
At the same time, EPIRA remains largely silent on a modern framework for dynamic grid automation and battery-storage integration.
But why can’t EPIRA be repealed? What prevents our lawmakers from introducing a new statute that would better fit the realities of today’s power industry?
CHILLING EFFECT
As far as I know, however, simply scrapping EPIRA could spell disaster. It could have a chilling effect on future energy infrastructure financing. Why?
Building power plants and expanding energy infrastructure to meet the country’s growing demand rely heavily on private capital. Scrapping EPIRA outright could signal regulatory instability to international markets by dismantling the industry’s foundational regulatory framework.
Question: What are the possible remedies to resolve the power crisis in the Visayas now, Mindanao next and Luzon later?
There may be none — unless EPIRA gets updated, pronto. Otherwise, the power crisis could simply rotate around the Philippine archipelago.
And the victims? The ordinary power consumers!
FROM THE HEART
So, was Garin’s confession correct? And why was it so power(ful)?
Because it came from the heart.
The gist is this: No president or DOE secretary can fully solve the country’s recurring power crisis unless EPIRA itself is overhauled.
The energy crisis has become a cancer in the power industry. The cure? Perhaps a new EPIRA!
Garin vowed to deploy a power barge in the Visayas as a temporary solution to the energy crisis.
But did Garin mention its source and capacity?
Nope!
That’s why it becomes a guessing game.
WHO WILL POKE GENCOS?
Here’s another point worth pondering: As of the first few days of October, 13 power plants in the Visayas were completely offline. Five others were operating at derated capacities.
The result: nearly 700 megawatts (MW) of electricity were unavailable to the grid.
The figures speak for themselves: The Visayas had an available generating capacity of 2,490 to 2,678 MW against a projected peak demand of 2,379 to 2,540 MW.
Question: “Nga-a dululungan gid offline ang mga planta?”
Your guess is as good as mine.
But who will poke the power-generating companies, or gencos? Secretary Garin? President Bongbong Marcos?
‘MESSIAHS’
Now enter the “bibo nga mga politiko.”
Whenever an energy crisis erupts, plenty of politicians want to squeeze themselves into the spotlight. They want to project themselves as the “messiahs” who will save us from our power woes.
The truth?
Many simply want to capitalize on the issue. Call it “pang–pogi points.” Or, in more sophisticated language: political grandstanding.
In the middle of an energy crisis, beware of politicians bearing speeches. Their ostentatious rhetoric is often aimed more at capturing public attention than generating electricity. Because the painful truth is this: No politician, through speeches alone, can solve brownouts or a power crisis.
Worse, according to a previous report from the National Electrification Administration (NEA), some politicians were not even paying their monthly electricity bills. Shameful.
The power crisis requires the expertise of people who actually understand the industry — not politicians hungry for the spotlight.
Given the current power woes gripping the Visayas, let’s start with Garin’s power(ful) confession.
Then bring in industry experts to offer their insights, solutions and projections. And heed them.
If they say EPIRA must be scrapped and replaced, then let’s do it — now na!
It may be painful at the start, but perhaps only a thoroughly modernized — or entirely new — EPIRA can save Filipinos from a recurring power crisis.
Stop the blame game. It is not healthy. Instead, focus on Garin’s heartfelt confession. Then let’s start fresh./PN
