PRESIDENTIAL son Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos yesterday called for a review of the franchise of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) following the island-wide power outage in Panay Island, as well as other parts of Negros, last January 2.
Areas such as Guimaras Island, Iloilo, Antique, Aklan, and Capiz were among those affected by the power outage, adversely impacting the livelihoods of residents, particularly small business owners.
Electricity supply in Panay Island was restored last Friday but NGCP has been insisting that there was no transmission disturbance before the tripping of the Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) unit 1’s 83 megawatts at 12:06 p.m. of January 2.
The NGCP has said it was able to recover the transmission system and normalize voltage until several power plants inexplicably tripped at 2:19 p.m. of the same day.
Marcos, a senior deputy majority leader, has filed House Resolution (HR) No. 1534 urging the appropriate House committee to investigate the massive blackout and review the legislative franchise of the China-backed NGCP.
“There is a compelling need for Congress to conduct an investigation with the end in view of revisiting and reviewing the franchise of the NGCP,” Marcos said in his two-page resolution.
The NGCP, the country’s power grid operator, is partly owned by China’s State Grid Corp., which has a 40 percent stake in the agency after winning a 25-year concession to run the country’s power transmission operator with Filipino-owned investors Synergy Grid & Development Phils Inc. (SGPPS) of Henry Sy Jr. and insurance industry tycoon Robert Coyiuto Jr.
The 29-year-old neophyte lawmaker said the inquiry is aimed at ensuring the “timely expansion of the transmission system in line with the development needs of our people and for its effective and efficient operation.”
“The review 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,” said President Marcos Jr.’s eldest son.
Marcos said such “streamlining” will enable the NGCP to focus on the construction and operation of the transmission grid, while also raising the possibility of the need to review the imposition of the special tax on the NGCP as power concessionaire, in lieu of all other national and local taxes.
“In pursuit of the common good and in line with its constitutional mandate to conduct investigations in aid of legislation, it behooves Congress to put in place energy security to ensure our country’s development,” he said in the resolution.
Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin last week said a congressional inquiry is necessary, citing “the severe impact of the blackout on lives and economic activities” which she said is unacceptable.
Stressing the importance of holding entities accountable for neglecting their duty in maintaining a reliable power grid, the House Deputy Majority Leader has also announced her intention to file a resolution calling for a House inquiry.
The Department of Energy has said the widespread power disturbance in Panay Island could have been prevented had the NGCP completed on time the 230 kiloVolt Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) backbone project which is a major part of the TDP.
The widespread power disturbance in Western Visayas covered the entire Panay Island, including hundreds of schools in Panay, Guimaras and Negros where they were forced to suspend face-to-face classes, and businesses suffered millions in losses after they were compelled to shut down.
Both public and private hospitals were also severely affected since the operation of their critical medical equipment were compromised, which could spell the difference between life and death, not to mention that the tourism industry “incurred inestimable reverses.”
PENALTIES
Marcos said the House probe should also “further explore the feasibility of authorizing the Energy Regulatory Commission to impose administrative penalties on the transmission concessionaire of P2 million per day of violation or non-compliance with regulatory rules.”
If monetized, Marcos said violations committed should at least be “one percent of the cost of the delayed project based on the ERC-approved project cost, whichever is higher.”
For his part, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian agreed that the NGCP should be made to pay the corresponding fine for the economic losses incurred during the power outage last week.
Gatchalian said the fine is a way of letting NGCP “feel” the hardships experienced by business establishments in Panay Island.
“Sa aking opinion, dapat ang multa ay katumbas ng economic losses sa lugar na nag-blackout para maramdaman ng NGCP ang hirap na dinanas ng mga negosyo doon (In my opinion, the fine should be equivalent to the economic losses in the area where the blackout occurred so NGCP can feel the hardships experienced by the businesses there),” Gatchalian said.
He said the January 2 blackout was not the first of the many issues involving NGCP. He said the other issues which were discovered in past Senate inquiries include delays in its projects, having foreign managers, and the absence of no ancillary power reserve, among others.
Based on his office’s research, Gatchalian said both the NGCP and the PEDC were responsible for the power outage.
“Dalawa ang may responsibilidad — yung power plant na nag-unplanned outage [PEDC] at NGCP dahil sila nag manual dropping kaya buong system ang nag-collapse at nagkaroon ng blackout sa buong Panay Island (There are two companies which are responsible — the power plant which had an unplanned outage [PEDC] and the NGCP because they did not implement manual dropping that’s why the whole system collapsed which led to the blackout in the whole of Panay Island),” Gatchalian said.
He also said that delayed NGCP projects have likewise contributed to the blackout.
“Maiiwasan sana ‘yung backout kung tapos na ‘yung Mindanao-Visayas interconnection at ‘yung Cebu-Negros-Panay interconnection upgrading dahil labis ang supply ng kuryente sa Mindanao. Pero delayed ang construction ng NGCP sa mga ito (The blackout could have been prevented if the Mindanao-Visayas interconnection and the Cebu-Negros-Panay interconnection upgrading have been completed because there is an excess of power supply in Mindanao. But their construction were delayed),” he added.
Senators Raffy Tulfo, Risa Hontiveros and Francis Tolentino have filed separate resolutions urging the appropriate Senate committee to determine the root cause of the Panay power outage.
The Senate Committee on Energy has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday. — With Raymond Africa
