MANILA, Philippines — Senator Imee Marcos thinks Congress should now take an urgent and serious look at the franchise of the country’s lone grid operator.
After all, the senator noted that the franchise of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has been under review almost every year because of the “almost annual occurrence of power outages” in the country.
“Maybe it is about time that Congress act with urgency and seriousness given that it’s clear NGCP is not learning from its mistakes,” Marcos then said in a statement to reporters late Sunday night.
Her statement followed the remarks of her bother, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, blaming NGCP for the massive power outage in Panay island on January 2.
The senator also pinned the blame on NGCP.
“While NGCP claims that generation is not their business, it is clear under the EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001) and under their franchise agreement that managing the grid is their primary concern,” she said.
“What happened in Panay is clearly a case of grid mismanagement and lack of investment in interconnectivity and reserve requirement, as well as lack of proactive management,” Sen. Marcos stressed.
She also mentioned NGCP’s projects under the Transmission Development Plan (TDP), which she said have been delayed—some by up to seven years.
The senator cited as example the Cebu-Negros-Panay Backbone and the Visayas-Mindanao Interconnection projects, which she said “could have alleviated the power problem in Panay.”
“The government needs to look at tools in its disposal to make NGCP implement the TDP, including fines and suspension/revocation of franchise,” Sen. Marcos said.
Senator Raffy Tulfo already proposed last week the review and revocation of NGCP’s franchise for its supposed “repeated failures” to stabilize the power system of the grid.
NGCP, however, explained earlier that the unscheduled maintenance shutdowns of the largest power plants in Panay Island was the primary cause of the January 2 power outage that crippled businesses in the affected areas in Western Visayas.
“The people must understand that we can only transmit power; we do not generate power,” it also stressed in a January 3 statement.