NGCP not solely to blame for Visayas outage – senators

BUSINESS AS USUAL | An eatery in Iloilo City, in this photo taken last week, continues serving customers despite the widespread power outage that hit Panay and Guimaras islands in Western Visayas during the first week of 2024. (Photo by ARNOLD ALMACEN / Iloilo City Mayor’s Office)

MANILA, Philippines — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is not solely to blame for the massive power outage that plunged Panay and Guimaras islands into darkness for almost four days last week, according to some senators.

“It seems that NGCP has been the ‘whipping boy’ lately whenever something wrong happens in the energy sector,” Sen. Francis Escudero told the Inquirer on Monday.

“It seems that we forget that the energy sector is one of the most heavily regulated sectors where the ‘players’ cannot do anything without the imprimatur of either the DOE (Department of Energy) or the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission),” he added.

Escudero pointed out that along with the transmission company, power generation and distribution firms also play critical roles in the entire energy infrastructure.

Accountability

Thus instead of instantly pinning the blame on just one entity, Escudero said his fellow lawmakers and the state regulators should closely examine the role of all those involved in the energy industry to better pinpoint accountability.

Escudero was reacting to the massive blackouts that hit Panay and Guimaras islands in Western Visayas last week due to the tripping of several power plants.

NGCP has been mainly blamed for the latest massive outage that affected 4.5 million people and caused over P1.5 billion in economic losses for supposed failure to follow protocols to stabilize and strengthen the Panay grid, even after a similar incident occurred in the region less than a year ago in April.

Like Escudero, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said he would rather hear first the explanation of all concerned parties before making any conclusion on NGCP’s culpability.

“There is [a] need to investigate. I will listen to the ‘experts,’” Pimentel said.

Senate probe

Fellow opposition leader Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Monday filed a resolution urging the Senate to conduct a “deeper and more extensive” investigation on the matter.

She agreed with several of her colleagues that the government should review NGCP’s 25-year concession agreement with the National Transmission Corp., which still owns the country’s transmission assets.

Sen. Raffy Tulfo, who chairs the Senate energy committee, is set to preside over a public hearing on the Panay power outage on Wednesday.

“Our nation’s grid operator cannot and should not be remiss in its obligation to transmit electricity to where it is needed throughout the country,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

“NGCP claims that its decision to take no action, like manual load dropping, during the blackout was according to ‘standard protocols.’ Is it a standard procedure not to act during a crisis like a blackout?” she asked.

Review franchise

Sen. Francis Tolentino filed a similar resolution, saying the massive “power disruptions pose adverse impact on the overall economy” of Western Visayas.

“Unless soonest resolved… these power disruptions will be the bane to the continuous and uninterrupted growth and prosperity of the region,” read a portion of Tolentino’s Senate Resolution No. 894.

House Senior Deputy Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos filed his own resolution, stressing the need for Congress to revisit NGCP’s 50-year franchise issued in 2009.

The son of President Marcos said the review of NGCP’s franchise “should include the possible separation and transfer of the systems operation function from the NGCP to another entity which could carry out such function more efficiently.”

He said this streamlining “will enable the NGCP to focus on the construction and operation of the transmission grid.”

NGCP was created in 2009 through Republic Act No. 9511, which granted it a 50-year franchise to operate the state-owned power grid.

‘Act with urgency’

It is owned by Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp., Calaca High Power Corp., and the State Grid Corporation of China.

For Sen. Imee Marcos, the President’s sister, both the Senate and the House of Representatives should “act with urgency and seriousness” since it was already “clear” that NGCP had been committing the same mistakes.

“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,” she said.

In a video message on Jan. 5, President Marcos held the NGCP responsible for the massive blackouts, echoing the remarks made earlier in the day by Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla.

“As the system’s operator, NGCP must proactively engage with distribution utilities and cooperatives to manage loads and prevent such system collapses,” the president said.