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A pro-health congressman has castigated the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) for the rotating power interruptions in Luzon, saying it has failed to prevent the scenario despite his warnings. “Maaga pa, sinabi na natin (We told them early on) that ancillary services must be given attention with the then-looming threat on the grid and its capacity to transmit electricity to electricity distributors and the consuming public, especially the health facilities," Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray Reyes said in a statement Wednesday, May 10. The NGCP announced a red alert over the Luzon grid Monday, resulting to the rotating power outages It said the entirety of Luzon was on red alert from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and again from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. A yellow alert was observed from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The reason for this was the forced outages experienced by five power plants, while three others were running on derated capacities. Reyes said the surge in electricity demand during the summer months is not an unforeseen scenario, and could have been easily addressed had NGCP and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) acted according to their mandates. "Para na tayong sirang plaka, pero tag-ulan pa lamang ay hinahanapan na natin ng kontrata sa ancillary services ang NGCP (We're like a broken record, but we've been asking for ancillary service contracts since the previous rainy season).
“Nasaan na ang ancillary service contracts ng NGCP? Nagdilim ang Western Visayas last week, dito sa Luzon dalawang araw na ang nakalipas. Hihintayin pa ba nating buong bansa ang mawalan ng kuryente? (Where are the ancillary service contracts of NGCP? Western Visayas went dark last week, the same with Luzon two days ago. Should we wait for the entire country to experience a blackout?)" asked the solon. Ancillary services are back-up power supply agreements with power generation companies which are supposed to be contracted by NGCP to serve as alternative power supply sources in the event that regularly-contracted operators in the generation side of the energy industry stop operating due to overwhelming electricity demand, emergency breakdowns, and other unforeseen events adversely affecting their operation. In March this year, NGCP blamed ERC for its failure to process or approve the ancillary services contracts it applied for with other players in the generation sector of the industry. As early as February, Reyes had already warned against the inaction of NGCP, and urged them to secure the operation of the grid and guarantee unhampered power transmission service during the summer months when electricity demand goes beyond regular consumption levels. "There is a surplus of generated electricity in Mindanao that we can harness to augment the fluctuating supply of power in Luzon and Visayas... NGCP continues in its failure to connect these regions as provided for by their Transmission Development Plan. Its delayed contracting of much-needed ancillary services makes the current situation worse,” the solon earlier said.