STAR EDITORIAL: POWER FAILURE
MANILA, FEBRUARY 27, 2010 (STAR) The Arroyo administration is winding down its nine and a half years with Mindanao reeling from rotating blackouts lasting six to eight hours. In some areas, the problem has become so acute that big power consumers such as factories and shopping malls are being encouraged to stop relying on the regular power grid and instead generate their own electricity.In Central Mindanao, subsidies might be given for oil and lubricants that will be needed by big power consumers to run generators. These machines are hardly reliable, especially when they have not been properly maintained. The other day, one of two generators used at the airport in Cagayan de Oro City broke down at the start of a four-hour blackout, paralyzing the airport until electricity was restored at twilight.
A pressing concern is the reliability of energy supply during the May elections. Energy officials are projecting low power reserves in Mindanao on election day, raising the possibility of blackouts that could facilitate cheating or, in the worst scenario, a failure of elections in certain areas. Although the consortium that is undertaking poll automation has assured the nation that its machines can run on batteries and generators, a reliable supply of electricity on election day and until all the votes have been counted is still preferred.
Like the energy crisis from 1991 to 1992, the ongoing power shortage is again due to inefficient planning for the country’s energy needs, compounded by policies that have deterred much-needed large-scale investments in the energy sector. The ongoing energy shortage will not go away with the end of El Niño. It will take several years before the power plants that can produce sufficient energy to meet the country’s power demands can be built.
Fidel Ramos managed to stabilize the power supply in 1992, but the rush meant the country had to pay a steep price for it. In subsequent years, short-sighted, populist policies in power pricing, the failure to honor contracts, and political meddling in the operations of private players in the energy industry have dampened investor interest in this sector.
Today the country has the second highest power cost in Asia, and is approaching the same crisis situation before Ramos stepped in with the power barges. The difference is that the industry has learned its lesson on policy inconsistency in this country, and this time it won’t be easy for the government to make investors take any bait.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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