NGCP ‘can’t intervene on matters in power generation’ amid Panay outage

MANILA, Philippines — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said on Friday it cannot intervene on “matters concerning power generation,” following a massive power outage in Panay Island which began on January 2.

“As the transmission service provider, NGCP can only give an overview of the current supply and demand situation and endeavor to dispatch any and all available power. It cannot intervene on matters concerning power generation,” NGCP said in a statement.

The NGCP asserted that it did not fail in its obligation to stabilize the transmission system and dismissed allegations that it did not properly inform the public.

“We firmly refute allegations suggesting that NGCP failed in its obligation to stabilize the transmission system. We also take exception to the allegations that we were less than transparent in providing information to the public. We provide regular updates to all stakeholders, including the media and government units (LGUs), through print, radio, broadcast, social media, and text blasts,” it said.

NGCP added that policymakers should be objective in their investigation of the incident and that there should be a “comprehensive industry-wide approach” to solving the power issues in the country.

“This is not a time to push personal or political agendas, but a time for honest-to-goodness solution finding. We again reiterate our push for a comprehensive industry-wide approach to resolve the persistent power supply issues on Panay Island and elsewhere in the country,” it said.

According to the NGCP, the Panay outage was caused by the tripping of multiple power plants, and said that there was “no abnormality in voltage and system stability.”

RELATED STORIES

NGCP explains, takes heat as Panay outage drags on

Speaker wants MIC to invest in NGCP to end power crisis in Panay