DOE prepares measures to manage energy supply during summer

The Department of Energy (DOE) is readying measures to ensure a sufficient and stable energy supply during the upcoming summer season. (Photo: Philippine Information Agency NCR/Facebook)

MANILA—The Department of Energy (DOE) is readying measures to ensure a sufficient and stable energy supply during the upcoming summer season.

According to a department media release, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has directed the Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, the Energy Utilization Management Bureau (EUMB), and the entire DOE to conduct a massive information campaign on efficient energy use on the part of consumers.

During a meeting with the DOE, stakeholders agreed to monitor the supply chain, from source to power plants to distribution utilities, down to the industrial, commercial and residential consumers.

According to the release, they also pledged to continue the advocacy for the development of indigenous energy resources, in which the permitting system must be addressed by giving importance to energy projects and classifying them as projects of national significance.

To ensure the delivery of power to consumers, the DOE likewise pledged to seek the completion of power plants, such as the Limay coal-fired plant in Bataan that has already been delayed for various reasons.

Moreover, stakeholders are required to monitor the output of the power plants through performance assessments and audits.

The Malaya Thermal Power Plant is also being prepared as back-up to guarantee sufficient supply and ensure the readiness of the Interruptible Load Program (ILP). The DOE is eyeing a change in policy where the differential in the cost of running the generators will not be passed on to consumers, but instead will be paid for by power plants that went on forced outage.

The ILP serves as an option for Distribution Utilities (DUs), such as the Manila Electric Company and electric cooperatives to ask their big-load customers to serve their own power needs by using their own generator sets to augment power supply capacity in times of Red Alert Status or when power supply reserves are thin.