AMID the recent red and yellow alerts, the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. (Philreca) is suggesting measures on how electric cooperatives (ECs) can improve their services.
"The urgency of the situation has put ECs in a tight spot and have compelled them to undergo various plans and programs to alleviate and mitigate its effect and shield their consumers from an impending and additional financial burden," Philreca said.
Among the measures suggested are: implementation of the Interruptible Load Program; development of load forecasting activities; tapping the LandBank of the Philippines' Anti-Bill Shock Program; and undertaking various approaches and strategies to effectively manage electricity demand.
Philreca also proposes a harmonized protocol on the Manual Load Dropping (MLD) implementation.
"For this suggestion, the National Grid Corporation or system operator shall issue a demand control imminent warning when such demand reduction, such as the MLD, shall be implemented within the next 30 minutes. Through this warning, the affected ECs can better prepare for the situation," the group said.
"However, there must also be a supplementary issuance of written notice for the distribution utilities, especially in case of rescheduling to provide leeway for the ECs in properly informing their member-consumer-owners," it added.
It is also necessary for ECs to increase their sourcing of renewable energy (RE) to deal with certain emergencies, rather than having no energy at all.
"In line with the compliance to Renewable Portfolio Standards, it would be beneficial for the ECs to tap additional RE generation companies for the purchase of power supply. These energy sources, although variable at times, can support the overall supply for their member-consumer-owners for a reasonable price," Philreca said.
"Furthermore, energy regulators must also review and possibly streamline the application process of the integration of embedded RE generation facilities and infrastructures, as not only will this ensure that ECs are operating within the purview of the governing laws, but also establish a dependable source of electricity," it added.
The group is also seeking the approval of the provisional authority of ECs to enter into emergency power supply agreements to get their needed electricity but at a price that will not burden their customers.
"The major exposure of ECs to Wholesale Electricity Spot Market is majorly contributed by the slow-moving applications before the Energy Regulatory Commission," Philreca said.
"It must be the utmost priority of the Commission to ensure that there is timely approval of the application of ECs in order to avoid and even mitigate circumstances like this," it added.
Lastly, Philreca suggested allowing the National Power Corp. (NPC) to construct and operate power plants so ECs will not solely rely on energy supplied by the private sector.
"The participation of the government in this matter will essentially be proactive since the private sector cannot be entrusted alone with power reliability since their nature and character is central to profit and capital accumulation," it said.
"Allowing NPC to construct and operate generation facilities will not only ensure power supply reliability and security but also provide an alternative source that is not cost-extensive to member-consumer-owners," Philreca added.