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Isinusulong ni San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza ang tuluyang pagwawaksi sa paggamit ng mga coal at fossil fuels na dahilan ng mataas na singil ng kuryente lalu na sa lalawigan ng Iloilo at Negros.
Iginiit ito ng Obispo sa pagdinig ng House Committee on Energy sa mga Electric Cooperatives at suliranin sa patuloy na pag-taas ng mga produktong petrolyo.
Ayon kay Bishop Alminaza, nararapat na ang National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) ang magbayad sa anumang taas singil sa kuryente.
“We support the several recommendations for the urgent repair of the submarine cable and for the hastened development of smart grids, battery storage, and microgrids to further augment energy supply in the province and unlock the potential of renewable energy (R-E). Moreover, any undue delay, such as NGCP’s supposed worst case scenario of completing repairs only by November 2023, should not be allowed. In fact, we suggest that increases in electricity rates due to delays should be charged to the NGCP, who is mandated to ensure that transmission facilities are in optimal condition, and not to innocent consumers, who are already burdened by this long-drawn pandemic,” ayon sa pahayag ng Obispo.
Ipinaalala rin ng Obispo ang karagdagang singil at pasakit na ipinapataw sa mga mamamayang ng Negros, bunsod ng pagbili ng suplay ng enerhiya sa Wholesale Electricity Market (WESM) kung saan tumaas ng 12.13% o Php1.54 ang singil sa kada kilo watt hour (KWH) sa kuryente sa rehiyon
“The damaged submarine cable of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines connecting Cebu to Negros and Panay, and the consequence of purchasing electricity from Wholesale Electricity Market were put on the spotlight. The numbers are clear. In the electricity bills from the Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc., the share of electricity purchased from the WESM spiked from 15.34% in July 2021 to 27.47% in August 2021, which consequently increased generation rates from PhP 6.35/kWh to PhP 7.89/kWh,” paliwanag ng Obispo.
Binigyang diin din ni Bishop Alminaza ang kakulangan ng pagsusulong sa paggamit ng mga malilinis na mapagkukunan ng enerhiya higit na sa Negros na tinaguriang “Renewable Energy Hotspot” daahil narin nasa hanggang 80% ng ginagamit na kuryente sa lugar ay mula sa mga Fossil Fuels.
“Even though the Negros Island has been dubbed as the renewable energy hopespot of the Philippines because 95% of the installed capacity of power plants in Negros comes from RE, a paper published by the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development entitled REpower Negros found that 73-80% of the contracted capacity mix of the Island comes from fossil fuels. In other words, Negrosanons are not benefitting from the cheap electricity being generated by its own RE power plants,” ayon sa Obispo.
Nangangamba si Bishop Alminaza na patuloy pang tataas ang singil sa kuryente kung hindi gagawa ng mga paraan upang mapanibago ang mga mapagkukunan ng enerhiya.
“We should expect electricity rates to continue to rise as long as we do not have an ambitious energy transition plan and we allow a detour to another fossil fuel, which is natural gas. The latest findings in climate science says that we will overshoot the 1.5°C Paris goal in two decades’ time without a swift and just paradigm shift to renewable energy. As it stands, the country is being left behind due to its unambitious goals, and narrow-minded and backward approaches towards energy development. This is evident in the DOE’s latest Philippine Energy Plan 2020-2040, where the country is poised to transition to fossil gas instead of renewables. Here in Negros, we are in fact also threatened by a proposed fossil gas-fired power plant even while we have an oversupply of renewables being left stranded,” Dagdag pa ni Bishop ALminaza
Sa kasalukuyan, sa National Capital Region at iba pang karatig lalawigan ay umaabot na ang singil ng kuryente sa hanggang Php9.13.
Sa naging pahayag ng nangungunang electric provider ng Metro Manila ng taas-singil ngayong Oktubre ay aabot na sa Php14.15 ang karagdagang presyo para sa mga bahay na komukunsumo nang 500kwh at hanggang Php6 naman para sa mga kabahayang komukunsumo ng 200kwh.
