PROBE BLACKOUT. The facade entrance of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) along Quezon Avenue corner BIR Road, Diliman, Quezon City taken on Nov. 10, 2023. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has questioned the cost passed on to consumers by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) even though it has nothing to do with electricity transmission. NGCP wants to charge consumers about PHP150 billion for their projects. (PNA photo by Ben Briones)
MANILA – The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) continues to be in the hot seat over the recent Western Visayas blackout which also prompted lawmakers to look into its legislative franchise.
After filing on Monday a resolution seeking to probe the blackout, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said should the investigation reveal gross negligence and incompetence in the system operations of NGCP, then “Congress should commence a review of the NGCP’s concession agreement and ultimately, its 25-year legislative franchise.”
“Our nation’s grid operator cannot and should not be remiss in its obligation to transmit electricity to where it is needed throughout the country. Tandaan natin na hindi lang abala ang dulot ng mga blackout -- malaki ang epekto nito sa kabuhayan, kaligtasan at kalusugan ng mga Pilipino (We should bear in mind that blackouts bring not just disruption -- it also has a huge impact on lives, safety and health of Filipinos),” Hontiveros said.
Her proposed Senate Resolution No. 890 calls for an “extensive” inquiry into the power outage which affected households throughout Panay and Guimaras amid reports of inaction and lack of real-time information from NGCP during the incident.
“Considering that past investigations and probes have not yielded palpable results, an even more comprehensive, thorough, and extensive examination needs to be conducted, including a review of the concession agreement between the National Transmission Corporation and the NGCP, as well as NGCP’s 25-year legislative franchise itself,” the resolution said.
Hontiveros, who hails from Panay, noted that the effectiveness of all protocols, such as the Department of Energy's mechanisms during incidents like simultaneous and unplanned power plant shutdowns should also be reviewed and strengthened.
Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian emphasized the importance of "continuous review" of NGCP's franchise, citing more issues in NGCP like delayed projects, foreign managers, and lack of ancillary reserve.
"Sa aking opinyon, dapat ang multa ang katumbas ng economic losses na nawala sa lugar na nag-blackout para maramdaman ng NGCP ang hirap na dinanas ng mga negosyo doon (In my opinion, the penalty should be equivalent to the economic losses of the area affected by the blackout so NGCP can also feel the struggle of businesses there)," Gatchalian said.
The lawmaker noted that the outage could have been avoided if the Mindanao-Visayas and Cebu-Negros-Panay interconnections were already upgraded by the NGCP.
The 14th Congress granted NGCP franchise last 2008 to manage and operate power transmission facilities across the country which was signed into law by then former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Operation function
At the House of Representatives, Senior Deputy Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos called for the possibility of transferring the NGCP's systems operation function to another entity.
Marcos said streamlining the functions of the country's transmission service provider will enable the NGCP to focus on the construction and operation of the transmission grid.
"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 to ensure the timely expansion of the transmission system in line with the development needs of our people and for its effective and efficient operation," Marcos said in a statement on Monday.
Marcos made the call for a review under House Resolution 1534, which seeks a congressional probe into the widespread power outage in Western Visayas.
“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.
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 PHP2 million per day of violation or non-compliance with regulatory rules.
He argued that 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.”
The review would also include the imposition of the special tax on the NGCP, as power concessionaire, in lieu of all other national and local taxes, he added. (with a report from Filane Mikee Cervantes/PNA)
