Senator Raffy Tulfo berated the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) for its repeated failure to maintain the stability of the grid that led to the recent massive power outage in Panay Island.
Tulfo was irked that this occurrence happened second time in a row after the system disturbances in the Panay and Negros Sub-grids from April 27-29, 2023.
The chairperson of the Senate Committee on Energy stressed that the rampant failure of NGCP to do its obligation in operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid is sufficient ground/s to warrant the review and eventual termination of its existing franchise.
“Mahigit isang dekada at kalahati nang nagsasakripisyo ang taumbayan sa mga kapalpakan nila. Enough is enough!”
“Panahon na para mas mapabilis ang pagrerebisa at agarang pagtanggal ng prangkisa ng NGCP. Mahigit isang dekada at kalahati nang nagsasakripisyo ang taumbayan sa mga kapalpakan nila. Enough is enough!” the legislator said.
The lawmaker added that NGCP should have already learned from the system disturbance that happened in April last year in the Panay and Negros Sub-grids and resolved things differently and better this time around.
As part of his consistent and 24/7 monitoring of the Panay energy crisis, the senator contacted NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda to ask for updates about said issue.
The administrator gave the senator a copy of the report he submitted to President Bongbong Marcos regarding the incident.
In said report, Almeda noted that the cause of the incident “may potentially be attributed to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) being unable to provide the necessary ancillary power support when the first unit of Panay Energy Development Corp’s (PEDC) power plant tripped at 12:06 PM on January 2, 2024” due to a boiler feed pump issue.
The report likewise noted that subsequently, at approximately 2:19 PM on the same day, all other power plants in the Panay Islands simultaneously tripped, leading to the shutdown of multiple substations operated by affected electric cooperatives.
“The lack of ancillary power support from NGCP could have triggered the cascading tripping of the remaining power plants in the Panay Islands.”
According to him, the lack of ancillary power support from NGCP could have triggered the cascading tripping of the remaining power plants in the Panay Islands thus leading to further blackouts.
Almeda however assured the Senator that immediate action is already being conducted to address the problem and that power in Panay Island is expected to be fully restored by midnight.
Tulfo also contacted and is in full coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) which are both continuously communicating with the NGCP and the affected power plants.
He added that the continued inefficiencies and failure to comply with its obligations mandated by its franchise of NGCP strengthens his firm resolve to review its franchise which he already investigated through a Senate Resolution last year.
The continuation of hearing of said resolution seeking to investigate all the lapses of NGCP which could be grounds for the termination of its franchise is set on Jan. 10, 2024.
