Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday, October 4 reiterated his call for the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to fulfill its mandate of contracting ancillary services.
“The flow of energy supply should be stable and dependable to ensure operational reliability and prevent power outages that adversely impact the lives of our people and the economy in general. NGCP must do its job and contract ancillary services,” Gatchalian said in a statement.
Gatchalian, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, renewed his call for an uninterrupted power supply noting how the Philippines is a typhoon-prone country.
The senator said a continuous power supply is critical for recovery and rehabilitation efforts in times of calamities.
“Hindi dapat nagpapabaya ang NGCP sa tungkulin nito na pag-contract ng ancillary services upang masiguro natin ang tuluy-tuloy na supply ng enerhiya at maiwasan ang perwisyo na dulot ng palagiang brownout sa ating mga mamamayan (NGCP should not be remiss in its mandate to contract ancillary services to ensure energy supply is continuous and to prevent another series of brownouts),” he said.
Gatchalian is referring to last month’s elevation of the grid status in Luzon from yellow to red alert and rotational brownouts that occurred in several provinces due to the shutdown and lower output of certain power plants.
The lawmaker stressed there is an urgency in the need to contract ancillary services considering that the existing 899 megawatts (MV) of such ancillary services are set to expire by 2023 and another 568 MW by 2024. About 1,511 MWs of ancillary services already expired in 2020.
He also commended the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for issuing a show cause order to NGCP over its failure to comply with its obligations on contracting ancillary services.
“Hinihikayat ko ang ERC na patuloy na bantayan ang mga may pananagutan na gampanan ang kanilang tungkulin upang tiyaking may sapat na suplay ng kuryente ang buong bansa (I urge ERC to continue guarding those who have the responsibility to do their job to make sure we have sufficient supply of eletricity in the whole country),” he said.