Freshly-minted Senate President Chiz Escudero is taking flak not only from his peers due to the snap power grab at the Senate. Environmental groups are also up in arms over his recent call to lift the coal moratorium, as he claimed renewable energy is more expensive than coal. The Department of Energy (DoE) during the previous administration halted new coal projects but allowed the expansion and rehabilitation of existing projects.

DoE issued the directive in line with the country’s commitment with international conventions to reduce green house gases. The ecology groups presented industry figures showing generation charges from coal cost as much as P9 to P28 per kilowatthour, while renewable energy cost as low as P3 to P5, disproving his claim that coal only costs P2 to P4 while renewable energy costs P6 to P10 per kilowatthour. An industry report on power outages also showed that coal-fired power plants break down far more than any other power source.

Each outage drives up the cost of electricity for consumers as distribution utilities seek electricity from the spot market to make up for the deficit. In cost, reliability, and environmental effect, there is no reason to lift the moratorium, according to the groups to dispute Escudero’s claim. “We do not know where the Senate President found his figures, but we are certain his staff can use Google and find the truth.

There he will find the science is clear: affordable and reliable electricity does not come from coal,”.