Coal Power Plants and Inflation Control

Last week, there was an irresponsible report that said Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Sharon Garin had overridden the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) by granting an exemption on new coal plants to a Meralco Power Gen (MGen) project, the Atimonan One Energy (A1E).

- Bienvenido S. Oplas Jr.

This is fake news for two reasons. First, the DENR has nothing to do with the issuance of permits or moratoriums to power plants; it only issues environmental clearance certificates (ECC) to proposed energy projects, among other things. Second, the A1E is not a new or "greenfield" coal project; it is an old project that has had an ECC from the DENR for several years.

I saw the MGen statement on this; it was short and direct. They said that Secretary Sharon Garin had reaffirmed the A1E project's status as a committed project, consistent with the DOE's earlier position that the project is not covered by the 2020 Coal Moratorium Policy. They assured stakeholders and partners that the A1E project remains fully compliant with all applicable environmental laws, rules, and regulations. It is aligned with the country's efforts to ensure energy security and affordability.

Reports like the one above are part of the continuing anti-coal campaign and climate alarmism drama worldwide, including in the Philippines.

In 2024, our coal power generation was only 79.4 terawatt-hours (TWH). In contrast, coal generation in other countries was much larger: 98 TWH in Malaysia, 113 TWH in Taiwan, 127 TWH in Australia, 153 TWH in Vietnam, 188 TWH in South Korea, 228 TWH in Indonesia, 301 TWH in Japan, 712 TWH in the U.S., 1,518 TWH in India, and 5,828 TWH in China.