The robust economic growth of the Philippines is taking its toll on its utilities.
A rising population and increased economic activities, along with the El Niño phenomenon, have raised the demand for water and electricity, but these should not serve as an excuse for the shortage and tight supply being experienced by consumers today.
Government regulators must have foreseen the situation where demand will soon outstrip supply given the 7 percent to 8-percent economic growth targets laid down by the state’s economic planners over the medium- and long-term periods. They should have dispatched the perceived shortages by approving new water and power projects with a sense of urgency. The water supply shortage in Metro Manila, for one, could have been averted had authorities cleared private sector proposals to develop new sources of raw water much earlier. The National Water Resources Board, thus, reduced the allocation to water distributors to 40 cubic meters per second from 46 cms from June 19 to 21 amid the fast reduction in the level of Angat Dam—the main source of water in Metro Manila.
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, meanwhile, has placed the Luzon grid on red alert on several occasions due to a shortage of power generation capacity.
Luzon’s power supply is generally tight during the dry months when demand is high and the hydropower plants are forced to operate below capacity due to the low water level of the dams.
The power shortage problem, or the prevailing thin reserves, however, stemmed partly from red tape or overzealous local government units.
San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang, whose company is one of the major power generators in the Philippines, noted that reserves were thin because no new plants were built in the past three years. Power developers, according to him, faced numerous challenges such as the delayed issuance of environment compliance certificate and other permits. He warned that the shortage in electricity supply was worsening and that the country “might have some problems soon.”
The demand for water and electricity, indeed, will become greater in the immediate future when the economy expands more and the population rises further.
