Reducing power plant carbon emissions by 70% is doable

Clean Fuels for the Poor, Columns, Policy Reforms on Investments, Press Room, Yellow Pad

Yellow Pad By Roberto Verzola My two previous pieces (BW, July 16 and July 23, 2018) discussed four flaws in the DoE’s current power development plan that led it to overestimate the country’s 2040 baseload requirements by more than 100%. Another BW piece disputed my conclusion and claimed that there is no baseload bloat. I urge all […]

Advancing fiscal incentive reform

Columns, Competition Reforms, Fiscal Policy, Policy Issues, Policy Reforms on Investments, Press Room, Yellow Pad

Yellow Pad By Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III   THE rationalization of fiscal incentives is a long-overdue reform. It is a necessary reform for several reasons. The current regime of incentives has resulted in the loss of huge potential revenues every year. In 2016 alone, the foregone revenues amounted to P178.56 billion. The Philippines has […]

Reform in the time of Duterte

Columns, Policy Issues, Press Room, Yellow Pad

Yellow Pad By Aj Montesa and Karla Michelle Yu   “Are we in the midst of a crisis?” For activists, that’s a valid question. Perhaps the activists’ answer is yes. A yes, mainly because this aligns with the narrative that this administration is incompetent to make sound policy decisions for the country. It might be […]

The SONA: a ranking of preferences

Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), Columns, Fiscal Policy, Mindanao Peace, Policy Issues, Policy Reforms on Investments, Press Room, Sin Tax Reforms, Yellow Pad

Yellow Pad By Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III   Rodrigo Duterte’s 2018 State of the Nation Address (SONA) addressed a lot of issues. And depending on your values, beliefs and advocacy, one would either slam Duterte or begrudgingly recognize parts of his reform agenda. But it is not merely a question of counting what is […]

More flaws in the DoE plan raise baseload bloat to 103%

Clean Fuels for the Poor, Columns, Policy Reforms on Investments, Press Room, Yellow Pad

Yellow Pad By Roberto Verzola A previous piece identified one serious flaw in the DoE’s Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) 2016-2040: the DoE still assumes that baseload plants will retain their 70% share in the electricity mix until 2040. This will not happen. Steadily dropping solar prices will make market-driven solar penetration inevitable. The rising solar […]

Flawed DoE assumption results in baseload bloat

Clean Fuels for the Poor, Columns, Policy Reforms on Investments, Yellow Pad

Yellow Pad By Roberto Verzola Over the past four decades, solar photovoltaic (PV) prices have been dropping by an average of 9% per year. As a result, rooftop solar is the cheapest daytime source of electricity today in many countries. In the Philippines, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) from solar rooftops has gone below […]