By Raymart Escopel
ILOILO City – The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) held an information campaign on embedded generation in this southern city on June 18.
The initiative aimed to explain to the consumers what embedded generation is and how it affects power transmission and generation.
Philip Dasalla, NGCP Head of Network Customer Access and Relations, in his presentation urged transmission customers connected to embedded generation facilities to follow the grid code so as to be delivered better services.
He said that embedded generation can cause power interruptions and worse, degradation of the entire system.
Dasalla cited some provisions of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) which clearly stated the guidelines and legal aspects of embedded generation.
He said that Section 8 of EPIRA states that “as a general rule, no person, company or entity other than the TRANSCO (now NGCP as concessionaire) shall own any transmission facilities.”
Dasalla also cited Section 45 of EPIRA which enumerates safeguards that Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) can enforce in order to promote true market competition and prevent harmful monopoly and market power abuse.
He also stressed Rule D11-5 of the Open Access of the Transmission Services (OATS) Rules which states “transmission customers with an Embedded Generation Facility above the level prescribed by the Grid Management Committee shall comply with the Grid Code and seek the approval of NGCP as System Operator.”
With those provisions, Dasalla concluded that Panay Electric Cooperative (PECO) violated the Section 45 of the EPIRA as it sourced 100 percent of its supply of electricity from bilateral contract.
He added that PECO customers with 1,000 kiloWatt forego its power of choice since it can no longer avail its energy requirements with other suppliers through connection with the Grid.
Dasalla also concluded that sourcing of electricity from one generation company also lead to high generation cost.
He stressed that NGCP is not against embedding generation. However, he noted that large embedding is alarming to the Grid./PN
