MANILA – The Senate Committee on Energy has tasked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to probe power generation companies in light of the series of forced and unplanned outages.
“Minandato rin po namin ang ERC na bumuo ng fact finding upang alamin kung totoo bang pumalya ang mga planta o may nangyayaring sabwatan,” Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, committee chairman, told News TV on Friday. “Pagkatapos po ng fact-finding at investigation, doon po natin makikita ang mga batas na dapat gawin.”
Gatchalian said companies that are manipulating power supply should be slapped with sanctions.
He also batted for the construction of more power plants to ensure sufficient power supply.
“Dapat maparusahan ang mga plantang biglang nasisira at siguraduhin na ang pagpapatayo ng mga planta ay mabilis upang magkaroon na po tayo ng sapat na supply ng kuryente,” the senator said.
The Senate’s energy committee conducted a hearing on Thursday on the energy situation following the almost daily red and yellow alerts this month that had caused rotational brownouts in several areas in Luzon.
Energy undersecretary Felix Fuentebella, during the hearing, blamed the thinning power reserves on the forced and unplanned outages of several power plants. (GMA News)
