Climate group urges DOE to file charges vs coal plants as Visayas grid struggles with outages

Local

ONE of the largest environmentalist groups in the Philippines wanted the government to hold power generators accountable over issues related to the country’s power supply, particularly in the Visayas.

The Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) is urging the Department of Energy (DOE) to file formal charges against power generation companies, including several coal-fired plants here.

The call comes as the Visayas grid has experienced a series of yellow and red alerts in recent months, with unplanned shutdowns of major power plants repeatedly cited as a key reason for tight electricity reserves and supply shortfalls.

In a statement, PMCJ said the DOE must ensure that the show cause orders (SCOs) it has issued against power generators lead to actual penalties.

These include the possible revocation of certificates of compliance for plants found to have repeatedly violated their operating obligations.

"If the DOE is really serious about its tough talk on accountability, show that these SCOs will result in actual revocation," the group said, warning that the agency "will face public scrutiny if charges are not filed."

PMCJ said the DOE had issued SCOs to 164 on-grid power generation firms nationwide, but only 37 submitted formal explanations.

But the low compliance rate shows the agency's current enforcement measures have failed to compel meaningful accountability, the group added.

According to PMCJ, recurring forced outages have continued to strain the power system, contributing to higher prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), transmission congestion charges and rising generation costs that are ultimately passed on to consumers.

"Every blackout, every spike in WESM prices, and every transmission surcharge is a cost borne by Filipino consumers," the group said.

Among the Visayas-based coal-fired plants that PMCJ identified as having recurring forced outages are Cebu Energy Development Corp. Unit 3, Therma Visayas Units 1 and 2, Palm Concepcion Power Corp. Unit 1, Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 3, and KEPCO Salcon Power Corp. Units 1 and 2.

The group said similar patterns of unplanned shutdowns have also been observed among coal plants in the Luzon and Mindanao grids.

Repeated outages should not be treated as isolated incidents but as evidence of the broader risks posed by continued reliance on coal-fired generation, they explained.

While calling for stronger enforcement against erring power generators, the group also said penalties alone would not solve the country's recurring power supply problems.

As a result, it renewed its appeal for a planned and managed phaseout of coal-fired power plants, arguing that accelerating the shift to cleaner energy sources is necessary to improve long-term energy security.

The environmental group did not specify when it expects the DOE to act on the pending SCOs or whether it plans additional actions if the agency does not file formal charges against the identified power plants.(RBE)