Senator Sherwin Gatchalian presides over Thursday's congressional hearing into the recent power outages in Luzon.
MANILA -- The Senate committee on energy on Thursday conducted a congressional inquiry into the recent spate of power outages in Luzon.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, committee chair, called for the hearing in view of the series of yellow and red alert warnings issued by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) for the Luzon grid due to the simultaneous shutdown of five power plants.
In his opening speech, Gatchalian raised questions on the unexpected brownouts despite the forecast of the Department of Energy that there is ample supply of electricity reserve throughout summer.
He said the inquiry would identify the power outlook in the next few months, especially with the upcoming May elections.
“We want to be enlightened on the power situation on the coming elections, which is critical to our nation,” Gatchalian said.
He said the committee would also look into the possible collusion among power producers due to thin electricity reserves in the midst of high demand. (PNA)
