NEA urged to ensure resiliency of electric coops during calamities


Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday, October 31 called on the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to ensure that all electric cooperatives (ECs) are compliant with the Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency Fund (ECERF) law in order to mitigate the impact on power supply of natural calamities such as typhoons. 

 

Gatchalian, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, made the call following the widespread devastation brought about by severe tropical storm “Kristine.”

 

The senator pointed out “Kristine” left thousands of households devastated and reeling from lack of power supply. 

 

With Super Typhoon Leon now in the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), the senator said power interruptions could affect even more households across the country. 

 

“The goal of ECERF is not just to provide funds that ECs can tap for the restoration and rehabilitation of ECs' damaged infrastructures following a fortuitous event such as typhoon but to ensure that the distribution utilities are resilient to withstand calamities,” Gatchalian said. 

 

He also said the ECERF was put in place as a ready fund that can be tapped by ECs for faster restoration of electricity and power facilities damaged by natural calamities.  The fund is administered and managed by NEA.

 

As principal author of the ECERF law, Gatchalian said ECs are required to submit on an annual basis vulnerability and risk assessment (VRA), emergency response plan (ERP), mitigation plan (MP), and resiliency compliance plan to NEA. 

 

Moreover, ECs are required to submit the accomplished or implementation status of the respective mitigation projects they identified in their respective VRAs and MPs.

 

Since the Philippines is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change risks and natural disasters, the lawmaker stressed ECs need to develop their resilience to prevent power interruption or at least shorten the period of such incidents during and after calamities.