by: ALAINE ALLANIGUE
QUEZON CITY, (PIA) -- The Power for People Coalition (P4P) on Tuesday criticized the Department of Energy's (DOE) plans to build even more coal-fired power plants despite its own moratorium, as the department builds up the country’s fossil fuel-centric energy grid in defiance of the Paris Agreement.
At least 3,821 megawatts (MW) of coal-sourced electricity would be added to the grid from this year until 2027, according to Sec. Alfonso Cusi’s report to President Rodrigo Duterte in the latter’s Talk to the People on Thursday.
“As we have feared when the moratorium was announced, Sec. Cusi only needs renewable energy for PR purposes and has no intention of abandoning fossil fuels. Even now, he calls on the private sector to do its part to avoid the grid’s red alerts, dodging his department’s responsibility to eliminate such red alerts entirely by getting rid of coal-fired power plants. Every year, we have a power crisis, and every year, the crisis is traced back to coal, whose power plants fail when we need them the most. We have long given up on Sec. Cusi’s commitment to the people and the planet, but it seems like we also have to give up on his common sense and logic,” said P4P Convenor Gerry Arances.
P4P has long criticized the country’s massive reliance on coal-fired power plants, as the use of the imported fuel and repeated breakdowns in its plants create spikes in electricity rates which add to the pollution and health problems they cause in their host communities to their ill effects.
“Sec. Cusi’s term as DOE secretary is a string of broken obligations. He has broken his obligation to provide affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy to all. He has broken the country’s obligation to the rest of the world in the Paris Agreement, to bring down greenhouse gas emissions to limit global temperature to no more than 1.5°C. He is breaking his obligation to future generations by nailing the country’s future to the coffin of more fossil fuel plants even as the rest of the world moves to renewable energy,” said Arances.
The DOE has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to renewable energy but has yet to launch a firm proposal for the transition of the country’s grid to 100% renewable energy in the long term.
“As his term as DOE secretary draws to a close, we ask Sec. Cusi to at least let the next administration be able to fix his mess and not hamper efforts for more renewable energy by committing the government to more long-term contracts with long-term bad effects for everyone,” said Arances. (PIA-NCR)
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