BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – Amid the inevitable rotational brownout to avert another massive power outage, the Iloilo City Council wants to hear directly from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) why the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has yet to implement 230 kV Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) Backbone project.
The above power transmission project, which is a major part of NGCP’s Transmission Development Plan (TDP), has been delayed at least seven times from the original completion date of December 2020.
The ERC had said the four-day blackout that hit Panay Island and the rest of Western Visayas in January could have been prevented had the NGCP completed on time the CNP Backbone project.
Councilor Romel Duron, the city council’s energy and public utilities committee chairman, authored a resolution requesting Monalisa Dimalanta, ERC chairperson and chief executive officer, to conduct the hearing in Iloilo City relative to the ongoing case with the regulatory body against NGCP.
Duron said the blackout “caused untold miseries and damages to the lives of the Ilonggos, and business losses with hundreds of million pesos, and the origin of which is unknown or not properly explained by NGCP.”
The city council approved the resolution during their regular session yesterday.
In an advisory, the NGCP said it monitored the emergency shutdown of Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) Unit 2 at 4:08 a.m. yesterday with a capacity of 83 megawatts (MW) due to “internal issues” of the power plant.
PEDC owns and operates 164 MW and 150 MW clean coal-fired power plants in this city.
Currently, the NGCP noted the Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (PCPC) which operates 135 MW, is still on maintenance shutdown from February 18 to March 30, 2024.
Likewise, the NGCP said that PEDC Unit 3 (150 MW), that only reconnected back to the grid on Feb. 27, also went on unscheduled shutdown yesterday.
“Considering the maintenance shutdown of PCPC until 30 March 2024 and the unscheduled shutdown of PEDC Unit 2, NGCP may implement manual load dropping to preserve the integrity of the Panay sub-grid under the provisions of the Philippine Grid Code,” read NGCP’s advisory.
Manual load dropping, also known as manual load shedding, is a method used by NGCP to manage the balance between electricity and demand.
This involves intentionally cutting off electricity supply to specific areas for a certain period to prevent a blackout. It is usually done during peak demand when the electricity supply is insufficient to meet the needs of the consumers.
Last Feb. 21, the city council approved the motion of city hall lawyers to represent the city government to file any action before proper courts or quasi-judicial agencies relative to the massive power outage last Jan. 2 to 5, 2024.
The city council also approved giving the city lawyers the authority to intervene and participate in the hearing of the case by the ERC regarding the delayed implementation of NGCP’s approved capital expenditure (capex) projects.City lawyers Edgardo Gil, GV Eutiquio Cunada, Llonil Virtebo, and Joseph Edward Areño will also represent the city government in the proceedings on the hearing of the case relative to the show-cause order issued against NGCP over the delayed implementation of power transmission projects.
In particular, the city lawyers are authorized to enter into an amicable settlement on the case, or to simplify the issue. They can also make admissions and stipulations of the facts and formally offer exhibits or limit the number of witnesses.
The city lawyers may also represent the city government during the mediation or other modes of alternative dispute resolution including proceedings during Judicial Dispute Resolution.
Moreover, they can enter into a compromise agreement or amicable settlement with the adverse party, prior conformity, approval, and ratification of the city council, and sign and execute any pleading and certification against forum shopping, among others.
Also, the ERC conducted the second clarificatory hearing regarding the delayed implementation of NGCP’s approved capital expenditure (capex) for its power transmission projects.
These projects include 230 kV CNP Backbone, Iloilo Substation 3×100 MVA 138/69-13.8 kV power transformers, and the Panay-Guimaras 138 kV Interconnection project, among others.
In a three-page order dated Feb. 12, Dimalanta directed NGCP to attend the second clarificatory hearing via an online platform to allow the respondent to answer questions.
The order for NGCP to attend the clarificatory hearing came as the country’s sole grid operator announced another round of power interruption in some parts of Iloilo City and Iloilo Province on Feb. 18, 2024.
The NGCP said the power interruption was to carry out preventive maintenance of its 100 MVA transformer No. 1 in the Iloilo substation.
The ERC had issued a show-cause order against the NGCP asking it to explain the delay in the completion of the transmission projects in July 2023.
In an order dated June 14, 2023, the ERC ordered the NGCP to submit a “verified explanation” within 15 days from receipt of the order “why no administrative penalty should be imposed upon it.
The ERC noted that the timelines for the NGCP’s approved capital expenditure projects were not followed and the grid operator’s implementation of its projects has been delayed.
NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza was quoted as attributing the delays to several factors such as procurement of rights of way and protracted permitting procedures, among others./PN
