WERE THE three days of blackout that hit Panay, Guimaras and Negros islands a matter of national security or just plain incompetence?
Definitely not a good start for the New Year, an unscheduled power interruption disrupted the first workday back for most government and private office employees on Panay Island, the day after the New Year celebrations.
By 2:20 p.m. on January 2, as if on cue, power utilities/cooperatives in the region released public advisories about an unexpected power interruption.
Here we go again. Déjà vu of April 2023. A Panay-Negros-Guimaras island-wide blackout which lasted till the weekend and we’re still feeling the hangover today.
According to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), “The power outage which started on January 2 was due to the tripping of multiple power plants which isolated Panay Island from the rest of the Visayas grid. The unscheduled maintenance shutdowns of the largest power plants in Panay Island were the primary cause of the power interruption.”
Yeah right, it’s anybody’s fault but them. Does NGCP even have a fail-safe system or is it too much to ask?
Really, four of the biggest plants in Panay all tripped off simultaneously on the same day, the coincidence is indeed uncanny.
I’ll just park this: NGCP is owned 60% by a Filipino consortium and 40% by a Chinese company, bearing in mind the irritation now happening at the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea.
As I said before, the coincidence and timing is uncanny – as if a prelude of the scenario if things do escalate in the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea.
Was the blackout another “water cannon” version?
Meanwhile, no less than the President of the Republic was outraged at this fiasco by the NGCP incompetence or otherwise:
“Accountability lies with the NGCP (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines). They are tasked with grid stability. Stability involves proactive responses to breakdowns and unexpected events – a duty that NGCP unfortunately has not fulfilled adequately,” lamented Marcos in an official statement released on Friday.
He reiterated his call from April 2023 to the NGCP for transparency with its stakeholders, utilities, and regulators.
“They must identify and address (weaknesses in the transmission system) as they are crucial for a resilient and stable power infrastructure,” according to Marcos.
The President also instructed the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to complete the reset of NGCP rates promptly, ensuring NGCP compliance with statutory and regulatory obligations, and to “defend in no uncertain terms against any attempt to defer, delay or prevent the implementation of regulatory measures.”
He noted that the NGCP had a critical two-hour window to prevent the system collapse, as pointed out by the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines Inc. (IEMOP).
NGCP’s failure to implement manual load dropping during this period led to the crisis, he said.
This was not the first such blackout, the President pointed out, referring to a similar incident in April 2023 in Panay. This event led to an examination of NGCP’s performance and underscored the need to complete the Panay-Negros-Cebu interconnection by August 2023.
Marcos expressed disappointment over the delay in completing the Mindanao-Visayas-Panay-Negros-Cebu interconnection.
“The NGCP assured us that the Visayas grid has sufficient capacity, assuring timely completion of the Mindanao-Visayas-Panay-Negros-Cebu interconnection. However, we find ourselves in January 2024 far from the promise completion date of August 2023,” he said.
He stressed that NGCP’s failure to act during the crucial window was a missed opportunity, and as a system operator, it must proactively engage with distribution utilities and cooperatives to manage loads and prevent system collapses. (Panay News 1/6/2024)
Of course, as expected NGCP came out with a statement vehemently denying any accountability with the thre-day blackout, effectively saying the President is not telling the truth.
I might be stretching it by asking if that three days of blackout is a matter of national security; but considering the volatile situation in the West Philippine Sea / South China Sea and the parties involved, the coincidence is indeed uncanny./PN
