* This is my column in BusinessWorld last November 06, 2018.
See also:
When a “bright idea” needs legislation, 90 to 99% it is a
lousy idea that will not work if not implemented by force, coercion and state
favoritism. In contrast, many of the brightest innovations and successful
business projects in the country and the world were born without legislation,
they just prospered under a competitive environment.
Among the recent stories published in BusinessWorld
pushing for some “bright ideas” are the following.
1. “Bring down electricity prices and the inflation rate
will go down” by Roberto Verzola of AER, Oct. 22, 2018.
2. “No place for ‘dirty energy’ in ADB’s climate vision”
by Yongping Zhai, Chief of ADB’s Energy Sector Group, Oct. 24, 2018.
3. “Solar dev’t agency bills filed in House,” Oct. 29,
2018.
In story #1, Verzola is lobbying for the enactment of HB
8179 or Solar Para sa Bayan Corporation (SPBC) franchise owned by Mr. Leandro
Leviste, son of greenie Senator Loren Legarda.
If people are sincere in having real competition in power
generation, distribution and supply, they better push further implementation of
RA 9136 or the EPIRA law of 2001. Among the provisions of that law is retail
competition and open access (RCOA) where non-franchised retail electricity
suppliers (RES) can directly compete with franchised electric cooperatives and
private distribution utilities nationwide. Houses, stores and schools in far
away communities with no electricity can be aggregated to become “contestable
customers/markets” and be qualified for electricity supply by any of the many
ERC-accredited RES.
In story #2, Zhai and the ADB are indirectly lobbying for
high carbon tax, which can be done only by legislation. ADB’s shadow carbon
price is $36.30 per ton of CO2 to be increased 2% annually. That amount is
high, 2x the price of carbon tax by end-October 2018 in the European Carbon
Exchange (ECX). ADB wants two things then: (a) more expensive electricity for
developing countries like the Philippines where coal power provided 50% of
total electricity supply in 2017, and (b) unintentionally forcing people to use
the real “dirty energy” — candles and gensets. When there are frequent
blackouts as famous renewables solar and wind are highly intermittent, the poor
will use candles (more fires, injuries and deaths) while the rich will use
gensets (more air and noise pollution).
In story #3, HBs 8311 and 8326 propose to establish a
Solar Energy Development Center (SEDC), HB 8337 and SB 497 seek to establish a
Solar Energy Development Authority (SEDA). As if there is no RA 9513 or the RE
law of 2008 which gives lots of favoritism to RE developers. And creating new
bureaucracies will mean additional burden to taxpayers.
The endless lobbying in the country to glamorize
wind-solar and demonize coal-oil do not realize that the Philippines is already
#1 in the world in terms of environmental sustainability in its energy
development.
The World Energy Council (WEC) publishes an annual study,
the World Energy Trilemma Index. WEC is a UN-accredited global energy body with
over 3,000 member organizations in over 90 countries, from governments, private
and state corporations, academia, NGOs and energy stakeholders.
The Trilemma Index is composed of three factors:
(1) Energy Security — reliability of energy
infrastructure, ability of energy providers to meet current and future demand,
(2) Energy Equity — accessibility and affordability of energy
supply across the population, and
(3) Environmental Sustainability — energy efficiencies
and development of energy supply from renewable and other low-carbon sources.
The results of Trilemma Index 2017 and 2018 ranking out
of 125 countries covered may be shocking to the “kill fossil fuel” lobbyists
and activists.
With very low rank in energy equity, we should call
instead for reduction if not abolition of the distortionary feed-in-tariff
(FIT) scheme, high oil and coal excise tax in TRAIN law. Stable and
competitively priced energy, not more RE cronyism and legislation.
--------------See also:
BWorld 261, PPP, tunnels and mining, October 28, 2018
BWorld 262, Capitalism and electricity distribution, October 29, 2018
BWorld 263, Institutional decline and garbled competition regulations, October 31, 2018
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