Senate inquiry sought on power supply problem

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian NOY MORCOSO/INQUIRER.NET

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian has sought a Senate inquiry into the persistent red and yellow alerts attributed to the deteriorating power supply amid hotter-than-usual weather conditions in the country.

“The persistent problem of insufficient electricity supply suffered by Filipinos requires a comprehensive solution from all electric power industry participants,” Gatchalian stressed as he filed his proposed Senate Resolution No. 1018.

READ: Record PH heat drives power supply alerts, bares grid weaknesses

The vice chair of the Senate committee on energy emphasized that the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), as the primary regulators of the electric power industry, should spearhead concrete actions to be taken by all stakeholders to address the insufficiency of supply with short, medium and long-term solutions.

“Such solutions should include measures to ensure that generation companies comply with the highest standards, practices, methods and procedures generally followed or approved in the electric power industries, including ERC’s reliability index,” Gatchalian said. —TINA G. SANTOS