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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Tulfo grills DOE, ERC over lack of maintenance monitoring on power plants

Tulfo grills DOE, ERC over lack of maintenance monitoring on power plants

Published May 14, 2024 08:38 am

At A Glance

  • Senate Committee on Energy chairman Senator Raffy Tulfo questioned the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) over their failure to regularly monitor power plants amid frequent outages.

Raffy Tulfo.jpgSenator Raffy Tulfo (Senate PRIB)

Senate Committee on Energy chairman Senator Raffy Tulfo questioned the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) over their failure to regularly monitor power plants amid frequent outages.

During the panel’s hearing on Tuesday, May 14, the ERC admitted to Tulfo that it doesn’t conduct regular inspections on power plants.

“Kaya pala maraming outages na kapag nag-iinquire kami, sinasabi yung planta nag bog down kasi nasira, dahil mayroong piyesang kailangang palitan at kailangan pang orderin kung saang supalop ng mundo,” the senator said in response.

(That's why there are so many outages that when we inquire, they say the plant bogged down because it's broken, because there are parts that need to be replaced and they need to be ordered from wherever part of the world.)

“If hindi well-maintained, magka-crash yung electricity natin, as a result nagkaka-brownout at maraming napeperwisyo,” he continued.

(If it is not well-maintained, our electricity will crash, as a result there will be brownouts and many people will struggle.)

According to ERC Director Sharon Montaner, the commission only inspects the power plants during the application of Certificate of Compliance (COC) and during the mid-term of their respective contracts.

She explained that because of their limited staff, the ERC can only enforce a so-called desk monitoring—wherein companies are required to submit a report on the conditions of their plants.

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero said this only works in theory since no company would ever declare something that is against their interests.

“They will say everything is good and dandy. These are private corporations that are for profit, which is admittedly prinavitized nga natin (privatized by us). So, tinatanggap nga natin ay yung mga kompanyang ‘to gustong kumita (we accept that they are companies that want to make money),” noted Escudero.

He stressed that if ERC and DOE only rely on the companies’ submissions, then it will never be known if these power plants are maintained well.

“Wala kayong kamuwang-muwang (You have no awareness), you don’t have eyes, you don’t have ears, you don’t have feet and warm hands on the ground to find out kung ang sinasabi ba talaga nilang rason ay totoo o hindi, (if the reason they are saying is true or not)” said Escudero.

The DOE said that the common problems for these plants are equipment breakdown and transmission and distribution issues.

Tulfo said that the age of the plant is not the reason behind the seemingly endless power outages lately, but rather, it’s in its functionality.

“Kung well-maintained and well-monitored yung pag-function ng planta, hindi magkakaroon ng forced outages,” said Tulfo.

(If the plant's functions are well-maintained and well-monitored, there won't be any forced outages.)

“Gawin dapat nila [DOE at ERC] ang trabaho nila to make sure that these plants are complying,” he stressed.

(They should do their jobs to make sure that these plants are complying.)

The broadcaster-turned-lawmaker is also calling on the issuance of stiffer penalties against poorly-maintained power plants.

If the either DOE and the ERC fails to properly monitor these plants, Tulfo said they should also face sanctions.

Related Tags

Senate of the Philippines Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Regulatory Commission Power plants Raffy Tulfo
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