By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz
The chairman of the House Committee on Energy on Wednesday assured the public that there will be no brownouts next year, particularly on election day.
Liberal Party Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro, chairman of the House Committee on Energy, said in a news conference that there are enough power supply for next year.
“We’re not anticipating any brownout during the election period according to the Department of Energy. But I’m asking them to give us more updates on power supply. I also have the TWG [technical working group] looking at it,” Umali said.
Electricity is needed for the vote-counting Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to function.
“We see a steady supply of electricity from Luzon down to Mindanao in the future by building more power plants that will ably meet the demand,” Umali said.
Biofuel and Natgas
At the same time, Umali said that the panel approved his House Bill 5587, which aims to exempt natural gas power plants from section five of Biofuels Act of 2006, or RA 9367.
Section 5 of RA. 9367 mandates the use of biofuels in all liquid fuels for transport and engines. Biofuels come from biological organisms or their wastes while natural gas is formed from plants and gases buried underground. Natural gas has lower emissions, a more ecofriendly source of fuel.
“The Department of Energy has expressed its strong support to the bill, which has a counterpart proposal in the Senate authored by Senate Committee on Energy Chair Sen. Sergio Osmeña III,” Umali said.
The measure aims to ensure stable power supply when large natural gas power plants shut down for maintenance, said Umali, who co-chairs the Joint Congressional Power Commission and Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Biofuels.
As the power plants that use biodiesel will have reduced limited capacity, HB 5587 seeks to exempt natural gas power generating plants and allow them to use pure or straight-run diesel for a limited time.