Jana Imari B.

Cimatu
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ENERGY RESOURCES

Almost everyone cannot imagine a life without light or electric fans or cold drinking water.
Especially now that it is summer season. My mother would say that she would rather stay in her
office than go home immediately so that she can stay longer in an air conditioned place without
paying high electric bills. It would be funny for some people to read this but I would also rather
spend my weekends in the university’s central library and study just so I won’t suffer from the
scorching heat of the sun throughout the summer season. No one can deny that the comfort of these
electrical facilities are giving. Also, no one can’t deny that the need for these electricity powered
technologies heightens whenever power shortages happen. It even happens during the summer
season when people would need most need these technologies. It has now become a habit for others
to lash out their anger on social media, but what really is the social issue here? I have come to
learn from this documentary that there is an underlying scientific fact behind these power
shortages. Two problems arise: First, friction between demand and supply. Second, slow moving
processes.

It is a fact that the Philippines is a small archipelagic country with a high population. This
population is not even balanced as the National Capital Region is much more densely populated
than the other regions in the country. This population would now affect the demand for electricity.
The main distributor of electricity in Metro Manila is Meralco. I have always thought that there is
an unlimited supply of electricity because I thought that as long as the Sun is there, electricity can
be made available. What happens really is that Meralco can only distribute electricity if it’s
suppliers can give well, supplies. These suppliers need water so their hydro power plants can
successfully produce. The problem is that during summer season, water becomes so demanded by
the consumers and these power plants. In return, water is not accrued by these hydro power plants
and as an effect, difficulty in distributing to Meralco arises.
 This phenomenon is something that is hard to control because it is already nature that mere
humans will be fighting against. One will think there must be other ways that electricity can be
distributed even with the challenge of summer. I was thinking throughout the first part of the
documentary that they can just build more power plants. Fortunately enough, my questions has
been answered: slow processes.

According to Emmanuel Jr., engineer from engineering design and mapping team of
Meralco and Christian Agustin from Distribution Connection Design under Engineering Design,
also from Meralco, acquiring permits from the government is so slow paced. A lot is involved in
the process of planning to build a power plant. The grueling wait of acquiring permits makes the
arduous of reaching to demand of the consumers more difficult.

What more can one say? It’s always in the news and it’s always in the bulletin boards in
schools: “conserve energy”. I am, day by day, teaching myself to be economic with my use of the
electricity in our home. If I do not need to have a lot of light open, I would turn them off. It is only
through one’s willingness that a change can start. Again, what more can one say? Really, just
conserve energy.