ILOILO City – The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ (NGCP) failure to improve its facilities, among other lapses, is to blame for over P1.5-billion economic losses in this southern city, said Mayor Jerry Treñas.
The blackouts, which began at 2:19 p.m. on Jan. 2, across Panay Island, including Guimaras and parts of Negros Occidental, brought flashbacks of the massive power outage last April 2023.
On April 27, 2023, a similar power blackout hit Panay Island. NGCP attributed this to a “grid disturbance” affecting the Visayas grid.
“For three days of suffering from these brownouts due to NGCP’s incompetence, Iloilo City is losing P1.5 billion,” Treñas told CNN Philippines’ The Source on Thursday, Jan. 4.
Iloilo City is the economic driver of Panay Island, and of Western Visayas.
“The multiple trippings of the power plants in Iloilo were caused by the unstable transmission lines of the NGCP coming from Negros to Panay. It should be noted that under the conditions that NGCP has agreed, these transmission lines would have been developed and improved a long time ago,” Treñas pointed out.
He warned of a continuous repetition of this power failure until such time the state-tapped power grid operator spends resource to upgrade transmission lines as well as establish those from Luzon passing through Batangas, Mindoro and Panay.
NGCP is a privately-owned corporation that the national government tasked to operate, maintain and develop the country’s state-owned power grid, an interconnected system that transmits gigawatts of power at thousands of volts from where it is made to where it is needed.
“This situation is terrible for Panay and Guimaras to suffer. NGCP needs to shape up. Congress needs to investigate the matter and restudy their franchise. The national government through the DOE (Department of Energy), the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), and the President should use all the powers in their mandate to ensure that the transmission lines of NGCP should be improved at the earliest possible time. The improvement of these transmission lines have already been delayed several times. Now we are suffering because of these delays,” read part of Treñas statement issued on Wednesday night.
Senate Ready To Probe Power Crisis
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Thursday expressed the upper chamber’s readiness to look into the power crisis that hit parts of the country, particularly Western Visayas, early this week.
“We will not stand idly by while our fellow Filipinos suffer due to the negligence and lack of urgency in addressing this power crisis. Kung kailangang imbestigahan natin ito, gagawin natin para malutas ang puno’t dulo ng problema,” Zubiri said.
The “incensed and dismayed” Senate president stressed that the persistent power outages plaguing some provinces in Western Visayas, particularly in Iloilo, is no longer tolerable.
He then urged the DOE and the NGCP to urgently address this problem “before irreparable damage is done to our communities.”
Constant power interruptions, Zubiri said, have widespread effects on the communities, extending beyond mere inconvenience. They affect not only businesses, livelihood and the delivery of basic services to the people, but they also have dire and far-reaching consequences on the lives of citizens.
“The DOE and the NGCP must understand the gravity of this situation and act decisively to resolve the situation… We demand transparency in identifying the root causes of these outages and a comprehensive plan of action to resolve them,” he said.
The Senate president continued, “Both the DOE and the NGCP need to get to the bottom of these deeply disruptive outages and ensure that power is restored to every household and establishment in Panay Island, Negros Island and Guimaras as soon as possible.”
BUSINESS SECTOR EDGY
The blackout has been a source of concern for businesses ranging from large retailers to market vendors, with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) – Iloilo Chapter Inc. earlier estimating losses in the millions of pesos.
Engineer Fulbert Woo, president of PCCI – Iloilo Chapter Inc., highlighted the severe impact of the blackout on local businesses and the broader economy of Iloilo city and province, affecting jobs and the daily lives of residents.
In addition to business disruptions, the blackout has also impacted educational institutions. The Department of Education (DepEd) Region 6 reported suspension of classes across the region from Jan. 3 to 4.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, Treñas called for a congressional investigation into the blackout.
He urged lawmakers to take action, noting that it was both the Senate and the House of Representatives that gave a franchise to the NGCP.
“I am calling our congressmen to initiate a congressional investigation on the power interruptions in Panay, Guimaras and Negros. The NGCP, holding a franchise from Congress, should be held accountable,” said Treñas.
He also urged the DOE to find a sustainable solution to power supply concerns.
For her part, Iloilo City’s Cong. Julienne Baronda expressed support to the call for a congressional inquiry.
“Power outages warrant scrutiny by the House of Representatives to safeguard public welfare,” she stressed.
Baronda recalled that a congressional investigation was conducted after the April 2023 region-wide power outages, and emphasized the need for lasting solutions to energy issues affecting Western Visayas.
AN EYE OPENER
Sen. Grace Poe, meanwhile, said the blackout that happened in April last year in the island provinces should have been an eye opener for the NGCP and power utilities.
“Hindi katanggap-tanggap na nangangapa na naman sa dilim ang ating mga kababayan sa Panay Island. Kawawa ang mga nasa bahay, mga estudyante, negosyo at maging ang operasyon ng lokal na pamahalaan. Concerned agencies and private companies must find ways to restore power in Panay Island at the most expedient time,” Poe said.
She opined that the NGCP and power utilities should have been better prepared for any system disturbance and avert such with efficient planning and utilization of resources.
“Dapat may managot sa panibagong blackout na ito na nagpapahirap sa mga tao,” Poe added.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, for his part, also called on the DOE, NGCP and ERC to expedite the investigation of the power interruptions.
He said the DOE, NGCP and ERC must swiftly implement effective measures to prevent the recurrence of such disruptive incidents, which adversely affect business operations and the day-to-day activities of our people.
“Hindi katanggap-tanggap ang malawakang power outage sa pagsisimula pa lang ng taon. Patuloy nating susubaybayan ang sitwasyon sa buong rehiyon,” said Gatchalian.
In a statement on Wednesday, NGCP blamed power generators for the blackout.
“The unscheduled maintenance shutdowns of the largest power plants in Panay Island was the primary cause of the power interruption. We emphasize the need for improved planning to ensure sufficient generation per island, with a well-balanced mix of fuels and technology,” NGCP said.
BLAME GAME
In an earlier statement, NGCP reported that various power plants in Panay Island suffered multiple trippings on Jan. 2, including Panay Energy Development Corp.’s (PEDC) Unit 1 and 2 (83 megawatts each), and Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC, 135MW), among others.
It said that with the tripping of three of the largest power generating units and the planned maintenance shutdown of PEDC Unit 3 (150MW), 451MW or 68.75% of the total 656MW in-island generation was lost to the Panay sub-grid.
NGCP insisted that maintenance shutdowns and deration of plants outside the DOE’s approved Grid Operating and Maintenance Program also contributed to the lack of power supply.
As of 2 p.m. on Thursday, the NGCP reported Panay power plants were serving 230 megawatts, augmented by 14.6 megawatts from sources elsewhere in the Visayas.
The NGCP advisory stated that load restoration would be done conservatively to prevent voltage failures and that they were ready to transmit power once available.
NGCP underscored the need to conduct a more robust resource optimization planning by policymakers, to ensure that solutions to power system concerns are approached from all angles, and the most efficient ones prioritized.
Given the configuration of the Panay sub-grid and its dependency on variable energy sources in Negros when it loses internally generated power, NGCP also noted the need to provide sufficient non-variable sources to stabilize the system. The company also included its Cebu-Negros-Panay Stage 3 project (CNP3) as a contributing solution.
NGCP strongly recommended the review of the Philippine Grid Code to cater to renewable energy sources, particularly the effective use of emerging technologies such as energy storage systems, among others. (With reports from the CNN Philippines and Philippine Daily Inquirer)/PN
