PARAÑAQUE CITY, (PIA) -- The Power for People Coalition (P4P) on Wednesday urged the Department of Energy (DOE) to use its ongoing review of the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) to rectify the fossil gas intensive roadmap it presented in last year’s PEP, which saw a projected addition of at least 18 GW (gigawatt or 1 billion watts) of new fossil gas capacity by 2040, as this places consumers at risk of high electricity prices and deprives them of swifter access to clean and affordable energy from renewables.

P4P raised alarm on this matter as DOE, represented by Undersecretary Whimpy Fuentebella and Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad, in a virtual consultation for the 2020-2040 PEP acknowledged that since “the price of LNG (liquefied natural gas) is largely associated with the price of oil,” LNG price will be volatile for at least the next five years.

“The price of LNG reached all-time highs this year especially in Asia, Europe, and even the United States. With its vulnerability to supply and demand fluctuations and with many financiers tightening their belt on fossil gas financing, it appears this so-called ‘transition fuel’ may after all be bringing us not to an energy transition, but to an energy affordability and stability crisis,” said Gerry Arances, convenor of P4P.

"Since the DOE already recognizes the volatility of fossil gas, we wonder why they refuse to properly reflect this in the country’s energy plans and policies," he added.

According to the DOE representatives, impacts of LNG price movements to consumers will be mitigated by the strict implementation of the Competitive Selection Process (CSP).

“The CSP will do consumers no good if terms that will shield them from additional charges and price increases over time are lacking or totally absent, which we saw was the case for recent tenders that ended up in favor of fossil fuel companies,” Arances said.

The green energy and consumer rights group called on DOE to instead turn its attention to the Philippines’ vast renewable energy potential which meanwhile remains largely undeveloped.

“Renewable energy promises electricity that will free consumers from fuel cost volatilities. The DOE should be focusing on hastening the advance of renewables,” he said. (PIA-NCR)