DOE, ERC told to ensure power plants have access to transmission grid

MANILA, Philippines — At least two lawmakers have urged both the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to ensure that power plants can physically access the transmission grid to avoid power interruptions in the future.

COOP-NATCCO party-list Rep. Felimon Espares said this in a statement on Wednesday after learning from DOE’s Undersecretary Sharon Garin in a House of Representatives committee on legislative franchises hearing that they have no control over where energy stakeholders would want to place their power plants.

According to Espares, ensuring that the planning of power generators and distributors is in sync with the location of transmission lines will stabilize the energy situation and prevent a repeat of the incident where Panay Island suffered massive blackouts for days.

“DOE and ERC should work on this,” said Espares, who hails from Panay.

“Our source [of power] is really far.  If anything happens in between, we are really in for a big problem.  If the practice of having power plants near lines, it would be an advantage for us in the Panay or Negros islands,” he said.

During the recent legislative franchises hearing, Garin said that DOE is only responsible for approving the project, but the power plant owner is in charge of determining the best location for its project.

“DOE approves, but it is an unregulated industry. The owner decides.  They would just ask for permission from us, but they also go through system impact studies (SIS) with NGCP,” Garin said.

Last January 2, households in Panay Island including other areas like Guimaras and some parts of Negros Island were plunged into darkness after several unscheduled maintenance shutdowns, according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NCGP).

READ: NGCP asserts need for better resource planning after Panay power outage

Several lawmakers from both the House and Senate have called for a probe of the issue, as the impact on livelihood, schools, and businesses has been severe, with Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas labeling it an “economic sabotage.”

READ: Panay blackout takes toll on locals, business

Last March, the DOE assured the public that measures are being implemented to strengthen the Panay grid, like the Cebu-Negros-Panay transmission upgrade and the Palm Concepcion Power Corp’s (PCPC) maintenance shutdown.

There are also long-term solutions, such as the energization of renewable and conventional power plants and the completion of transmission projects to support the entire grid.

READ: Panay grid being strengthened to address blackouts, says DOE

But aside from ensuring that power plants are near the transmission lines, APEC Rep. Sergio Dagooc also asked the ERC to look into embedded generation, which is directly connected to distribution utilities and not to the transmission grid.

“ERC must study embedded generation to address the increasing load growth. Load growth is increasing, but they cannot address the needs.  There is a big discrepancy in supply and demand that if we fail to address this, we would see a deluge of red and yellow alerts,” Dagooc said.

“Because this is not totally connected to the distribution system, there is no effect to the transmission system if embedded generation falls,” he added.