Overhaul ERC, give it more teeth – lawmaker

INQ FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — APEC party-list Rep. Sergio Dagooc has suggested overhauling the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to give it more teeth and make it more efficient, as the office is currently hounded by complaints from power industry stakeholders.

In a statement on Thursday, Dagooc said the ERC should increase its manpower to address its supposed slow approval process.

According to Dagooc, the matter was discussed when the House of Representatives’ committee on Energy started deliberating the proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001.

“We must overhaul the ERC’s system to address its inefficiencies and excessive delays, which have caused significant harm to the energy industry,” he said.

“The ERC has been sitting on applications from generation companies or distribution utilities for too long, while it is also notorious for its slow approval process on the NGCP’s (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines) critical projects,” he added.

Dagooc also criticized the ERC for not being able to hold generation companies accountable over the massive power outages across the country, including one in Panay Island which resulted in billions in losses.

“It’s been months since that notorious power outage, yet the ERC still hasn’t released its findings. It seems they want the Filipino people to forget about the incident and let the responsible generation companies go unpunished,” he said.

Last January, households and industries in Panay Island went dark after multiple power plants shut down.

In an advisory, the NCGP initially said only power plants in Panay Island ceased operating, but eventually, the entire Negros-Panay grid stopped.

READ: Power outage hits Panay Island

Lawmakers believe the distribution utility and the NGCP are to blame for the issue, but some sectors also believe that the ERC could have prevented this, and could have addressed the matter quicky.

READ: ERC refuses to air conclusion before ending probe of W. Visayas blackout

Passing bills amending Epira appears to be a priority of the House before the calendar year ends.

Last June 25, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez assured President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that the three remaining priority bills identified by the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council would be approved before the 19th Congress exits in 2025. With reports from Ysabel Escalona, trainee

READ: House assures to pass 3 remaining Ledac bills before 19th Congress ends