Former Vice President Jejomar Binay on Wednesday urged the government to cut red tape and streamline the approval process for new power plants to prevent a repeat of the crippling power outages in the past.
In a statement, Binay said new power plants would help meet projected demand soon, sustain economic growth, and help provide jobs and livelihood opportunities.
“Right now, it takes years to secure a permit and operate new power plants. The ones we have are prone to frequent breakdowns and cannot meet rising power demands. They can no longer meet the high demand for electricity, especially during summer,” said Binay, who is running for senator in the May 9 elections.
The former vice president stated that the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) warned of thinning power supply in Luzon during the months leading to the upcoming polls.
In January, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) also warned of a “thin” power supply in the Luzon grid during the summer season.
The NGCP had said that the Department of Energy projected higher peak demands of 12,387 megawatts for Luzon for the period, or 747 MW higher than the 11,640MW recorded on the same period last year.
Unless the process is simplified and new power plants are opened soon, Binay warned the country could experience prolonged brownouts similar to the 1990s.
“This is not only a burden to ordinary people. It will also affect businesses and even our economy,” he said.
Binay said that the long approval process makes it hard for supply to catch up to the demand.
He noted that some power plants in the country are already in need of maintenance or prone to breakdowns.
“If we keep on running them to keep up with current demand and defer maintenance, this could lead to frequent and longer maintenance periods for them in the future,” he added.
It also makes them prone to unplanned maintenance shutdowns, Binay said.
Binay is running for senator under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), where he serves as party chairman.