On government debt, WESM prices, and the UP presidency

* BusinessWorld Nov. 21, 2022.
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ATTACKS AGAINST DOE AND ERC LEADERSHIP

Last week, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) reported a piece of good news — high power margin (supply less demand) of 3,500+ megawatts (MW) and lower prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) for the November 2022 billing period. I summarize in Table 2 the prices from January to November billing, and added the percent contribution of coal and intermittent sources. Coal is frequently demonized but is largely responsible for why those who want it phased out still have electricity 24/7. The beloved wind-solar have combined generation of near-insignificant levels.

Recently, there have been attacks against Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chair Monalisa Dimalanta which say that they are not objective and neutral because they have worked with one of the major gencos in the country. While this might be a factor, Lotilla and Dimalanta are respected lawyers and products of UP Law who have minds of their own as government officials. Besides, policy debates like whether or not to press the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to honor its contract to secure the required and exclusive ancillary services for grid stability, its being the only private monopoly nationwide and which did not do a public listing, should be discussed as societal issues, not personality issues.

The more that detractors personally attack Secretary Lotilla and Chair Dimalanta, the more they expose themselves as incapable of focusing on issues and just pursuing narrow corporate interests, not the consumer’s interest of having a stable grid free from frequent threats of power fluctuation if not blackouts....

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