A group of activists yesterday lodged a petition with the Administrative Court against the energy minister and four state agencies for alleged abuse of authority and poor judgement in handling the country's 2015 Power Development Plan (PDP).
Led by Srisuwan Junya, president of the Stop Global Warming Association (SGWA), the group of 21 members lodged the petition against the energy minister, the Energy Policy and Planning Committee, the Energy Policy and Planning Office, the Energy Regulatory Commission and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.
The alleged misconduct was deemed a violation of Section 9 (1) of the law on the Administrative Court's establishment and the administrative case procedure, according to the petition.
In the energy development plan for the period from 2015 until 2036, also known as the PDP 2015, the percentage of energy recommended to be set aside as reserves does not correspond with the forecast demand for energy, said the petition.
Although the demand for energy was predicted to fall significantly, energy reserves were maintained at the same level of 21% and 35% of the projected total demand for energy, the petition stated.
This would clearly lead to energy reserves becoming far higher than needed and possibly justify an attempt to move ahead with a plan to construct new coal- and natural gas-fired power plants, said the petition.
The group urged that state agencies respond more rationally to decreased demand for energy by cancelling the power plant plan -- for which no agreement has been signed yet.
At the very least, the five parties should consider deferring unnecessary energy supplies to a later date, the petition said.
The group also accused the five parties of rushing "unnecessary" supplies of energy for the period from 2015 until 2026, a time when energy demand is rather low, resulting in the need to boost energy reserves to 30-39%.
As a matter of fact, the demand for energy between 2015 and 2026 is expected to drop by 5,000 megawatts, but the five parties had rushed supply of around 4,000 megawatts, said the activists' petition.
This was deemed an illegal administrative act which also cost the country 349.6 billion baht in unnecessary public debt that would be incurred through investing in unnecessary power plant projects, said the petition.
The planned construction of power plants in various parts of the country would also result in negative impacts on residents living in nearby areas, the environment and the overall quality of life of many people, said the group in its petition.