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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Gatchalian: Power firms involved in massive blackout must be held accountable

Gatchalian: Power firms involved in massive blackout must be held accountable

Published Jan 21, 2024 06:34 am

The government should hold accountable generating companies (Gencos) that are unable to provide a stable supply of electricity, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said.

 

Gatchalian said these Gencos should be held accountable for power outages that result in great economic losses to their clients.

 

The senator made the suggestion following another power interruption in the Negros and Panay sub-grid due to an unplanned outage of the Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) Unit 3 last January 17.

 

Prior to this, a massive blackout struck Western Visayas for several days early of January this year which was attributed in part to the unplanned outage of PEDC Units 1 and 2, as well as the Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (PCPC) Unit 1.

 

He said the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) should audit Gencos that consistently breach the reliability index and, if necessary, impose sanctions against them.

 

“Generation companies that consistently fail to provide their committed power supply should be held accountable. They should not be allowed to get off the hook easily,” Gatchalian said. 

 

Besides, he said such act is explicitly provided for under ERC Resolution No. 10, series of 2020. The resolution also enforces the maximum number of days for the annual planned outages in generating assets. 

 

The lawmaker had earlier called for stiffer penalties against industry players found guilty of mismanaging power-related issues that result in economic losses. 

 

According to him, any penalty to be meted out to these industry players should be commensurate with the economic loss incurred in affected areas.

 

But in the case of the widespread power outage experienced in Panay Island or the Western Visayas region for several days, economic losses incurred by both Iloilo province and Iloilo City have reportedly reached P5.7 billion.

 

“Anumang kapabayaan na nagdudulot ng pinsala sa araw-araw na pamumuhay ng ating mga kababayan at takbo ng ekonomiya ay dapat may karampatang kaparusahan para hindi na paulit-ulit ang ganitong mga insidente (Any negligence that causes damage to the daily life of our countrymen and the economic trend must be appropriately punished so that such incidents do not happen again),” he said.

Related Tags

electricity supply in PH Power outage Sherwin Gatchalian generation companies
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