Consumer group Murang Kuryente slammed the Department of Energy’s “technology-neutral” policy that ruled out a moratorium on the construction of new coal-fired power plants.
Energy Secretary Al Cusi, responding to questions during the DOE’s budget briefing, told legislators that the “moratorium on any technology is a disservice to our country.”
“Secretary Cusi’s remarks betray a parochial mentality that focuses on megawatts produced while dooming consumers to paying more for unreliable and polluting energy,” said Murang Kuryente spokesperson Gerry Arances.
The energy consumer advocate said Cusi’s policy was not in line with the directive issued by President Rodrigo Duterte in his last State of the Nation Address.
“You cannot divorce the economic, social and environmental effect of any technology from its output,” said Arances.
Murang Kuryente blamed the coal power plants for aggravating the “power crisis” experienced in the run-up to the 2019 mid-term elections.
“It’s a no-brainer. If you have technology that is more reliable, more affordable and more sustainable in producing energy, you go for it and abandon old technology, especially if it’s destructive,” said Arances.
The Philippines is one of the few countries in the world that insist on constructing new coal-fired power plants despite a global trend to halt their continued use.
“Coal makes consumers pay more for their electric bills, makes them sick and destroys the environment. Renewable energy should not even be an alternative, but rather the first choice in our energy policy,” said Arances.
“The secretary’s defense of coal shows that he has no regard at all of keeping our commitment to our people and to the international community to care for our common home and uphold climate justice,” Bishop Gerard Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos in Negros Occidental said.
“I find it disrespectful to the president who gave the mandate to fast-track renewable energy resources to reduce the country’s dependence on traditional energy sources such as coal,” said Alminaza, quoting President Rodrigo Duterte’s mandate to Cusi during his State-of-the-Nation Address.
“We need someone who is able to think outside the box, as we need to innovate to respond to the environmental crisis,” he said.