Legislators had urged the ERC to ensure continuous power during the election period, after the NGCP forecast possible red alerts on the Luzon grid between April and June.
Amid an expected tightening in power generation during the summer season, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it expects no power outages during the campaign election and canvassing periods for the May 9 national and local elections.
“We have been holding consultations with electricity stakeholders, primarily with the Department of Energy and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines to ensure that such (a) scenario will not happen,” ERC Commissioner Floresinda Digal said in a message to media.
Digal said that NGCP has entered into firm contracts for power reserves, which are pending approval by the ERC.
“We are communicating with the generators to ensure that they run their plants in accordance with existing standards to ensure efficient supply,” she added.
She noted that the ERC is monitoring NGCP’s compliance with the Department of Energy (DOE) Circulars on ancillary services, the regulator’s term for the reserves that may be tapped should baseload supply run low.
Legislators had urged the ERC to ensure continuous power during the election period, after the NGCP forecast possible red alerts on the Luzon grid between April and June.
Senator Risa Hontiveros said the ERC must ensure adequate and reliable supply of electricity during and after the election to head off any doubts about the integrity of the poll result.
“We need to ensure that there will be continuous power supply in the country during the elections,” she said in a statement.
“There should be strict coordination and teamwork between the DOE, the ERC, and other sectors in the power industry to resolve this perennial problem.”
NGCP’s projection ‘worrisome’
Despite the assurances, House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate noted the NGCP’s projection as “worrisome” as red alerts might come “smack in the middle of the election period.”
He noted the yellow alerts on January 10 and 11 on the Luzon grid due to forced plant shutdowns. Yellow alerts are raised when supply thins below a specified safety margin.
“Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi claimed the DOE has devised plans to prevent brownouts during the elections, but apparently this is not what is happening in reality,” he said in an earlier statement, noting as well the continuing inability to supply the typhoon zones in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Hontiveros also noted that in previous Senate hearings, industry representatives and the DOE had floated solutions like firm NGCP ancillary services contracts and the minimization of unplanned maintenance shutdowns on the part of the generation companies.
Tags: #powersupply, #2022elections, #DepartmentOfEnergy, #EnergyRegulatoryCommission