INDEPENDENT power producers believe there is more to lose if tariffs on all types of coal would remain while a permanent removal of these would see more gains to the country and not impact revenues.
Members of the PIPPA are: SMC Global Power Holdings Corp.; Aboitiz Power Corp.; Semirara Mining and Power Corp.; First Gen Corp.; Quezon Power Philippines Ltd. Co.; AC Energy Corp.; TeaM Energy Corp.; Filinvest Development Corp.; and, Meralco PowerGen Corp. She said that 99 percent of the country’s coal imports for power are sourced from Indonesia. She emphasized that “the January event, the coal export ban, exposed significant risks due to our dependence on Indonesian coal.”According to Montelibano, the political and regulatory uncertainty in Indonesia “poses an ongoing risk for the export ban recurring.” Hence, she urges that the Philippines should explore other sources of coal amid increasing worldwide coal prices.
“This year, it has been helpful that tariffs were lifted temporarily but that also only enabled us to purchase on spot basis, meaning within the year,” Lim said. “But it has not able to give us enough stability to buy longer term because of the unpredictability of tariffs.”