Senior Deputy Administrator Amethya dela Llana, head of Ecology Department of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said she “will issue a show cause” order to the Philippine Coastal Storage & Pipeline Corporation (PCSPC) for the fuel oil slick that currents carried across the pristine waters of Subic Bay.

“I will call for a technical conference when I issue a show cause”, dela Llana said.

Diesel is considered as “one of the most acutely toxic oil types” that can taint and impact marine life like fish, crabs, sea weeds and corals, but may also affect birds “by direct contact”.

According to dela Llana, the slick “might be diesel” based on the pictures taken by Subic Bay News from 11:03 AM to 12:24 PM showing the fuel oil slick, estimated a hundred meter long and around 15 meters wide at some point, travel several kilometers from the PCSPC ports to the shores of Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA).

PCSPC did not respond to messages sent by Subic Bay News to inquire on the matter.

PCSPC denied the possibility of their piers being the source of a spill, according to dela Llana, when she called the company’s attention.

“Ako po mismo ang nagtanong,” she said, but was told “no operation and wala pong barko ang Coastal (PSCPC) ngayon”. However, it appears that PCSPC lied to dela Llana because at least three vessels were at the company’s piers on Thursday morning, namely MT Jag Parth, MT Chelsea Excellence and MT Hoya Grace.

The source of the spill may not necessarily have come from vessels, though, as it could also have come from PCSPC’s own fuel pipes on the piers leading to and from the company’s several storage tanks with a total capacity of around one billion liters.

PCSPC, also referred to as Coastal, may face stiff fines and penalties, on top of a tarnished image if found responsible for the Maundy Thursday fuel oil spill in Subic Bay. (VVV) ###

MANILA – Oil firms are expected to raise fuel prices next week, the Department of Energy (DOE) said Friday.
Motorists will likely face fuel price hikes, given the higher demand for the petroleum products, Assistant Director Rodela Romero of the DOE – Oil Industry Management Bureau said at the “Laging Handa” briefing.
Romero said diesel and kerosene prices could go up by PHP5 per liter, while gasoline prices may increase by “more than” a peso per liter.
“Bagama’t ayaw namin magbigay ng exact na price pero siguro medyo may kalakihan para sa (While we do not want to give an exact price, it [the increase] will be higher) next week,” she said.
Romero said fuel prices are controlled by market trading.
“So, hintayin po natin kung ano iyong magiging impact nitong trading na ito sa (Let’s wait what the impact would be on trading on) adjustment for Tuesday,” she said.
The price adjustments in petroleum products are usually announced by oil companies every Monday and implemented the following day.
Effective August 23, fuel firms implemented a per-liter increase of PHP0.70 for gasoline, PHP2.60 for diesel, and PHP2.80 for kerosene, based on DOE data.
Following the latest oil price hikes, the year-to-date total adjustments stand at a net increase of PHP18.15 per liter for gasoline, PHP31.70 per liter for diesel, and PHP27.10 per liter for kerosene. (PNA)

Olongapo Electricity Distribution Company, Inc. (OEDC) would like to inform its valued customers and the public in general that on 9 June 2022, it filed an Application entitled: In the Matter of the Application for Approval of Capital Expenditure Projects for 2022 with Prayer for Provisional Authority dated 26 May 2022 before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and was docketed as ERC Case No. 2022-045 RC.

This Application was filed to seek ERC’s approval of Capital Expenditure Projects for 2022 with Prayer for Provisional Authority.

The ERC virtual hearings through video conferencing using Microsoft Teams Application as the online platform are set on 17 August 2022 (Wednesday) and 24 August 2022 (Wednesday), both at 2 o’clock in the afternoon (2:00 PM).

24 June 2022

OEDC Management

Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower) on Thursday held a virtual groundbreaking ceremony for its 94-MW peak solar power project in Pangasinan, an undertaking seen to create a “brighter future” for the province.

Pangasinan Governor Amado I. Espino III welcomed AboitizPower’s multi-billion-peso project, saying that this significant investment in sustainable power generation will help address the country’s need for more and cleaner energy sources to fuel the nation’s growth.

“Today marks a milestone in Pangasinan as we break new grounds to provide a safe and brighter future for our province and for our fellow Filipinos. This starts our tie-up to provide safe and renewable electric power to our people while protecting the environment for the next generations to enjoy,” Gov. Espino said in his message of support during the virtual event.

AboitizPower, through a special-purpose vehicle wholly owned by subsidiary Aboitiz Renewables, Inc. (ARI), in December last year awarded to JGC Philippines, Inc. the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract for the project, with a total investment of ₱4.5 billion.

“Cayanga Solar is a very significant project for us at ARI. This marks the beginning of our exciting journey ahead — growing our renewable energy portfolio over the next 10 years to accelerate the Philippine energy transition to more environmentally sustainable sources,” ARI Executive Director David J. Smith said.

The project will soon rise on a 196-hectare site in Barangay Cayanga, about 13 kilometers southwest of the province’s capital. This will be the company’s second solar facility after its 59-MW peak solar plant in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.

Construction is set to begin on the project immediately and is targeted to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2022. JGC had completed the site investigation works and the results were used for the ongoing detailed engineering and design of the facilities. Temporary facilities are being erected and completion of the access road going to the plant is currently underway.

Once completed, the power plant is expected to produce about 147 million kWh of clean energy annually or equivalent to the yearly power consumption of 60,000 average Filipino homes. The majority of the facility’s capacity will be contracted for retail electricity supply, which can help bring cleaner and more sustainable energy to power consumers across the country.

“In our partnership with you, the Department of Energy (DOE) hopes that other companies and individuals will follow and do their advocacy for renewable energy and lessen our dependence on fossil fuels. The groundbreaking of this solar farm proves that solar energy is technically and economically competitive and could deliver clean and green energy, helping our nation to mitigate climate change impacts through the reduction of carbon footprints by offsetting the energy produced by these fossil fuels,” DOE Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella said.

AboitizPower is also looking to develop other renewable energy projects in the region, particularly wind and solar, with tendering on the 167-megawatt peak Laoag solar project in Aguilar, Pangasinan ongoing, and having already erected two met masts in the municipality back in February 2021 as well as two more in Bugallon in September 2021. Met mast refers to the structure where measuring equipment used for gathering resource data such as temperature, wind speed, and wind direction, among others, is installed to estimate energy production and understand the suitability of the site.

AboitizPower’s 10-year growth strategy aims to contribute to a more reliable, cost-efficient, and sustainable power system for the country. With a projected investment of around ₱190 billion, the company is looking to grow its Cleanergy capacity to 4,600 MW, which will make up 50 percent of its total generation portfolio of 9,200 MW by 2030.

AboitizPower distribution utilities, which serve around 1 million customers nationwide, migrated their enterprise and legacy systems from on-premise servers to the Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing platform of tech company Amazon Inc. This innovation provided the company with increased system reliability and scalability, reduced operating costs, and better customer service.
“Due to the increasing dependence of our business on IT systems, there is now a greater need to ensure that AboitizPower is equipped to respond quickly and efficiently to our customer’s needs,” said Lemuel Quilos, AboitizPower Vice President for IT.
This digitalization initiative improved each distribution utility’s performance in batch processing, extraction and generation of operational and analytical reports, and resiliency during unplanned system outages.
“AboitizPower embraces innovation as a key enabler to the growth and success of our businesses. We are constantly on the lookout for ways to maximize the latest technologies and digital trends to enhance our operations and customer service,” said Anton Mari G. Perdices, Chief Operating Officer of the AboitizPower Distribution Group.
Quilos added that fully migrated and optimized systems will reduce the processing time for most vital back-end processes like bill extraction and payment posting by up to 50%. This ultimately leads to the prompt servicing of customers and further streamlining of the MobileAP- a mobile app launched by AboitizPower in 2020, which lets its users check current and previous bills, see power consumption charts, and manage multiple accounts.
As of February 15, 2022, the cloud migration project is at 91% completion with Balamban and Lima EnerZones in Cebu and Batangas having successfully completed their migration activities. These two units are the last ones among the AboitizPower distribution utilities including Visayan Electric, Davao Light, Cotabato Light, and the Subic and Mactan EnerZones to go live.
Enterprise systems including Asset Management, GIS/mapping, and other legacy systems are scheduled to move up to the cloud soon, following the migration of all customer service-related applications and the project is set to conclude by April of 2022.
To ensure the swift and careful migration of data to the cloud, most of the project activities were performed by internal resources in collaboration with AWS and the AWS ProServe Team. The joint efforts of the IT and operations teams are also instrumental in completing the project at the soonest possible time.
“This project has helped AboitizPower be in the forefront of IT innovation in the Philippine power sector, through the adoption of cloud computing capabilities,” Quilos said.
The move to cloud computing is an essential part of the company’s digital transformation journey under AboitizPower’s Digital Transformation Strategy or DigitaLeap program. Through DigitaLeap, AboitizPower is able to integrate technological advances across all its business units with a long-term outlook for technology management and consolidation of technology direction on data.
AboitizPower continues to deliver world-class products and services to its customers and stakeholders, and be an enabler for economic growth by incorporating digitalization and innovation at the core of its strategies.