Former Senator and incumbent Sorsogon Governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Sunday said the next administration should have a clear agenda on energy and ensure that the Philippines has a long-term strategy for stable, sustainable and sufficient power supply.

Escudero said having a clear energy agenda is one way to avert a possible power crisis in the country.

“Nitong panahon ng pandemya, maraming lugar pa rin ang nakaranas ng brownout. Paano pa kaya kung tuluyan nang magbukas ang ekonomiya ng bansa (During this time of a pandemic, many places are still experiencing brownout. What would happen if our country’s economy fully recovers and reopens)?” Escudero said.

“This early, whoever is aspiring to steer this country after this administration should make public their energy and power development program,” said the governor who is seeking a fresh term in the Senate in the upcoming May 2022 elections.

Citing a study by the Department of Energy (DOE), Escudero said power consumption across the country dropped by 4.04 percent to 101,756 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2020 from year ago data, attributed largely to the Luzon-wide lockdown that shut down business operations in the region.

In contrast, residential consumption jumped to 34,292 GWh from 2019’s 30,552 GWh as most were forced to stay and work at home.

“Matagal nang problema ang kakulangan sa kuryente. Taun-taon na lang kada panahon ng tag-init, kada summer months ay sinasalanta tayo ng brownout pero mataas pa rin ang singil sa kuryente (the lack of electricity has always been a problem. Every year, during summer months, we are hounded by power outages and yet electricity cost is still high),” he said.

“Hopefully, mabigyan na ito ng pangmatagalan at permanenteng solusyon (we can find a long-lasting permanet solution),” he added.

Escudero recalled pitching for the use of clean and affordable energy when he was chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources in 2016.

He pointed out that the average electricity rate for residential customers in the Philippines was the second most expensive in Asia at P8.36 per kilowatt hour (kWh) after Japan, which is at P12.31 per kWh, based on a 2018 study by International Energy Consultants, an Australian-based think tank.

Likewise, Escudero noted that Meralco, the country’s largest private power distributor servicing seven (7) million customers, recently announced that typical households in Metro Manila would see an increase of P65 in their monthly this November for a 200-kWh consumption, driven by higher generation charges.

This brings the overall rate for November to P9.4630 per kWh, up by P0.3256 per kWh from October.

He said another viable option to address the power supply problem would be to come up with a new law that would support the Updated Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) 2018-2040 which remains pending in the Senate and House of Representatives.

The proposed law on revised PEP, a product of consultation and dialogue among industry players and stakeholders, contains adjustments in light of recent global developments, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the National Economic Development Authority’s (NEDA) projected GDP growth target of 7.5 percent, the strategies indicated in the PEP seek to ensure the availability of sufficient reserves at 25 percent over the next 20 years.

“Now that we are trying to recover from the pandemic as we move to the new normal, our resolve to attain power sufficiency should all the more be intensified,” the former senator said.