DOE orders 164 power firms to explain outages amid energy emergency
Amid tightening power supply, depleted grid capacities, and the country’s continuing state of national energy emergency, the Department of Energy (DOE) is set to issue show-cause orders to 164 on-grid generation companies (GenCos) for failing to meet operational standards.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin told a media briefing on Monday, June 29, that the orders are intended to allow generation firms to explain why their power plants are on forced outage or remain derated during critical grid alerts.
Garin said private utilities that fail to comply with reporting requirements could face monetary penalties or, in severe cases, the revocation of their licenses if the outages are deemed particularly grave.
The DOE expects to issue the orders to 164 on-grid facilities and 11 GenCos operating in off-grid areas.
Gabriel B. Corpuz, legal officer of the DOE’s Renewable Energy Management Bureau (REMB), said about 60 to 80 of these private firms are located in Luzon, while around 40 are in Mindanao, and about 20 are in Visayas.
Under a DOE circular, “there are various options that the DOE may choose: it could be cease-and-desist order [or] it could be blacklisting the companies so they cannot join CSPs [competitive selection processes] or auction programs of the DOE,” he said.
The DOE requires GenCos to report any incidents affecting their power supply, including the submission of immediate technical breakdown reports and work plans for capacity restoration.
The planned issuances also echo the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) earlier move to sanction private firms that violate power-sector regulations. ERC Chairperson Francis Saturnino Juan earlier stressed the need to penalize power generators, particularly those operating in Visayas, that have prolonged plant shutdowns, ultimately affecting the regional grid system.