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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Amid rotating brownouts, Dagooc calls for review of burdensome DOE, ERC policies

Amid rotating brownouts, Dagooc calls for review of burdensome DOE, ERC policies

Published May 26, 2026 11:02 pm

At A Glance

  • Dagooc urges policy review, calling on DOE and ERC to revisit circulars and market rules that contribute to supply constraints and higher electricity costs.
  • Transmission and plant issues highlighted as he warns that poor plant siting and line congestion burden consumers, while both generation and transmission gaps create systemic problems.
  • Rising ancillary costs noted, with payments reaching P63.5 billion from 2023 to 2026.
(Unsplash)
(Unsplash)


APEC Party-list Rep. Sergio Dagooc is urging the government to review Department of Energy (DOE) and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) policies that may be contributing to both supply constraints and higher electricity costs.
Dagooc made this call in light of the recent rotating brownouts in Luzon and Visayas that were reportedly triggered by the back-to-back tripping of the 500 kilovolt (KV) Ilijan-Dasmariñas and Ilijan-Tayabas transmission lines--something that some of his House colleagues were blaming on system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
On Tuesday, a joint panel hearing was held by the House Committees on Energy and on Legislative Franchises specifically to look into the outage.
Dagooc, an experienced linesman, provided rhe needed technical familiarity to move the discussions forward. He urged the lawmakers to focus on the technical, regulatory, and financial issues affecting the power sector rather than immediately assigning blame.
He noted that previous energy planning efforts encouraged strategic power plant siting to avoid excessive transmission investments and unnecessary costs to consumers.
"Hindi dapat parang kabute ang pagtayo ng mga planta. Kapag mali ang lokasyon, kailangan ng karagdagang transmission facilities na ipinapasa rin sa consumers," Dagooc said.
(Power plants should not sprout like mushrooms. If the location is wrong, additional transmission facilities are needed, and these costs are passed on to consumers.)
He also questioned why transmission congestion and related market charges continue to burden consumers.
"Every time may line congestion, may dagdag na lima hanggang pitong piso. Bakit hindi pa rin ito nire-review? (there is an added five to seven pesos. Why is this still not being reviewed?)" he asked.
Dagooc's remarks centered to the rapid increase in ancillary service costs, which were payments made to power plants that provide reserve capacity needed to maintain grid reliability.
According to figures he presented, ancillary service procurement through Ancillary Service Procurement Agreements (ASPA) previously amounted to around P7.9 billion, but costs rose significantly following the implementation of the Reserve Market, reaching P13.4 billion, P16.6 billion, and P20.05 billion.
Combined ASPA and Reserve Market payments from 2023 to 2026 have reached approximately P63.5 billion, which Dagooc said account for about 53 percent of the charges collected through NGCP.
"Generation remains the biggest component of the electric bill at around 55 to 60 percent. A large portion of ancillary service payments goes to power plants providing reserve capacity," he said.
Dagooc urged the DOE and ERC to revisit existing circulars and market rules governing reserve procurement and ancillary services.
"Respectfully requesting the ERC and DOE to review these circulars and policies. Some of these issuances are contributing to higher electricity costs, yet we continue blaming the wrong parties," he said.
He also backed efforts to strengthen technical oversight of the power sector, including the restoration of the Grid Management Committee and Distribution Management Committee under the ERC.
Digesting what Dagooc said, energy panel chairman Palawan 2nd district Rep. Jose Alvarez concluded: "So dapat hindi sisihin ang NGCP (So the NGCP shouldn't be blamed after all)."
Dagooc replied that the country's power challenges stem from a combination of generation, transmission, regulatory, and market issues.
"Kung may planta pero hindi handa ang transmission, may problema. Kung may transmission pero kulang ang planta, may problema rin," said the APEC solon.
(Having a power plant without ready transmission is a problem. Having transmission without enough plants is also a problem.)

Related Tags

Rotating brownouts NGCP DOE ERC Sergio Dagooc
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