Covid-19: Lessons for the Philippine power sector
Published in Business Mirror, 08 June 2020 DOWNLOAD PDF By Sara Jane Ahmed, Alberto Dalusung III, Jose Logarta Jr., and Pete Maniego Jr. WHEN the novel coronavirus first appeared in China late last year, nobody expected that the new disease, officially dubbed Covid-19 by the World Health Organization in February 2020, would become a global pandemic. Advanced and developing economies were ill prepared for its impact. Public health systems were overwhelmed. Broad and restrictive quarantine measures, including lockdowns, were imposed, severely restricting global and domestic economic activity. The preliminary numbers indicate the impact on the global [...]
Solons, DOE support transition to renewable energy
PRESS RELEASE Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities Solons, DOE support transition to renewable energy HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 26 February 2020 – Members of the House of Representatives today convened national government agencies to ensure that they are acting on climate change and fast-tracking the country’s energy transition. Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda made an impassioned call for government agencies to do their utmost to implement climate and environment laws, and elaborated on House Bill No. 2184, her proposed measure to encourage low carbon development. The bill was the agenda of the House climate committee along with the country’s Nationally Determined [...]
Is coal dying, or dead, in the Philippines?
Reposted from BusinessMirror, read original article here. By Viking Logarta & Sara Jane Ahmed Yes to the first, and a nuanced no to the second. President Duterte said in his State of the Nation Address last year: “We recognize the urgent need to ensure the sustainability and availability of resources, and the development of alternative ones. In this regard, I trust that Secretary Cusi shall fast-track also the development of renewable-energy sources, and reduce dependence on the traditional energy sources, such as coal.” The Department of Energy (DOE) is not only aware of this growing dependence and growing grid [...]
STATEMENT: SC decision portends lower rates for electricity ratepayers
10 May 2019 -- The cloud of uncertainty that hovered over stakeholders in the power sector was lifted by the Supreme Court (SC) decision on the competitive procurement of power supply by distribution utilities, mainly for residential ratepayers, last May 3. The aims and expected results of that decision are to be lauded. If the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) hew to the spirit of the court’s decision well, ratepayers can expect lower rates than will otherwise be, and would have been, the case. But there are implementation challenges that have to be addressed. Prior [...]