Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ (NGCP) failure to complete a number of its projects, including those that may have prevented the blackout in Western Visayas, is an important factor to be considered when deciding on the fate of its franchise, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Thursday.
“The delayed project is one of the heavy grounds or serious grounds on why NGCP’s franchise should be reviewed, and if warranted, revoked and given to a more competent operator,” Gatchalian told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
Senators on Wednesday raised the possibility of reviewing the NGCP’s franchise as they start investigating what caused the massive blackout that recently hit Western Visayas.
“We cannot look at the Panay incident in isolation. We have to look at the entire transmission operation and the expansion project is one of the most important facets in operating the transmission,” Gatchalian said.
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He noted that in Panay, the NGCP has yet to complete the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection and the Cebu-Negros-Panay Interconnection, which should have been completed in 2019-2020.
If these were already online, surplus power from Negros and Mindanao could already be transmitted to augment supply in Panay, he pointed out.
“Our country is growing, consumption of electricity is growing at about 4% to 5% and because of that growth our transmission assets should catch up but that’s not happening,” the senator added.
He also pointed out that the system operator should have acted immediately by implementing a manual load dropping to balance demand and supply after one of the power plants tripped.
The Panay Energy Development Corporation should also be held accountable for the blackout in Western Visayas, he added.
Energy Regulatory Commission Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said during Wednesday’s Senate hearing said consumers affected by the blackout cannot be compensated, and it is not in the commission’s mandate to collect damages.
