BAYAN Muna partylist representative Carlos Isagani Zarate Monday, March 27, hit the Department of Energy (DOE) for allowing several power plants to shut down during the summer season.
Zarate, in an emailed statement, said shutting down several power plants will surely lead to a very precarious supply of electricity and power rate hikes.
“Hindi na ba natuto ang DOE sa nangyari nung 2013 na sangkatutak na power plants ang nagsara dahil sa Malampaya shutdown? Hindi dapat sabay-sabay ‘yung pag shutdown ng power plants (Has the DOE learned from the 2013 incident where several power plants closed due to the Malampaya shutdown? Power plants shouldn’t be shutdown simultaneously),” Zarate said.
The power facilities on outage will include Calaca unit 1 with 210-megawatt (MW) capacity, Pagbilao unit 1 at 382 MW and Pagbilao unit 2 at 382 MW, Masinloc Unit 2 at 315 MW, Quezon Power at 456 MW, GNPower unit 1 at 302 MW, and GNPower Unit 2 at 302 MW.
Other plants are Sta. Rita Module 10 at 250 MW, Sta Rita. Module 40 at 250 MW, Kalayaan unit 1 at 180 MW, Kalayaan Unit 2 at 180 MW, Ambuklao Unit 3 at 35 MW, Bacon-Manito Unit 1 at 55 MW, Bakun Unit 1 at 35 MW, Limay 6 at 60 MW, Limay 7 at 60 MW, Magat Units 1 and 2 at 90 MW, Magat Units 3 and 4 at 90 MW, and San Roque Units 1, 2 and 3 at 145 MW.
Zarate said the downtime and unplanned outages of specified power plants stretched from February to June this year based on the data culled from the energy department.
“These shutdowns are too numerous and too long and they will definitely cause a spike in power rates if we do nothing about it,” Zarate said.
He added that the DOE has not posted the details on the de-rating of hydro-electric power plants and this would add to the pressure on the power supply.
The partylist already filed House Resolution 863 to investigate the power rate hike due to the Malampaya shutdown and consequent power plant shutdowns afterwards. (Ivy C. Tejano)