BY IME SORNITO & GLENDA TAYONA
ILOILO – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has intervened. He instructed the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to immediately address the problem that brought widespread blackout in Western Visayas on April 27 and 28.
This was confirmed by Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. yesterday morning following a call from Department of Energy (DOE) secretary Raphael Perpetou Lotilla.
“The President, even in the US for a state visit, is giving personal attention to our problem here in Western Visayas. Ang siling sa aton ni Sec. Popo Lotilla, the President instructed the NGCP nga dapat they should be transparent, they should update the stakeholders and the distribution utilities of the status of the grid para kita makapangaman and makapreparar, and we can adjust,” Defensor told Panay News.
Marcos left on Sunday, April 30, for a four-day official visit to the United States.
Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry P. Treñas expressed his gratitude to the President for his intervention.
“I am thankful that PBBM instructed NGCP to fast-track their improvement works on the transmission lines from Cebu to Negros and from Negros to Panay. This will ensure continuous transmission of electricity in the region and inter-connectivity as well. I am also very thankful to Sec. Popo Lotilla for giving full attention to the problem of Region 6,” Treñas said yesterday.
The President also ordered that the “protection relays of generation, transmission and distribution” must be synchronized to avoid tripping off the transmission lines, resulting in a massive blackout.
The NGCP was told to immediately finish the third stage of the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone project (CNP3), which involves linking Negros and Cebu by laying an overhead line from Bacolod City to San Carlos City in Negros Occidental, then from San Carlos City to Toledo City, Cebu, through a submarine cable.
The whole CNP project involves the construction of a 238-kilometer long circuit, 230 kilovolt-capacity transmission line linking the three islands of Cebu, Negros and Panay, which includes the expansion of the Barotac Viejo substation, the E.B. Magalona cable terminal station, and the Bacolod substation.
Defensor also disclosed that the NGCP has been instructed by the President to fast-track the signing of the Ancillary Service Procurement Agreement (Aspas) with the ERC.
Ancillary services support the transmission of power from generators to consumers to maintain reliable operations and are necessary to manage power fluctuations.
“Dasigon niyo ang filing and approval sa mga ancillary services procurement agreement nga pending. Ini nga mga services nga kinahanglan sang NGCP para magpabakud sang aton grid ang nagakinahanglan sang pahanugot kag regulasyon sang ERC kag dapat dasig ini nga makagwa,” the governor explained.
ERC denied NGCP’s request for month-on-month extensions of its existing Aspas while the latter conducted bids for new deals.
NGCP has sought the intervention of the DOE in securing approval from the ERC for extensions of the ancillary service deals.
It noted that these services are crucial in managing power fluctuations to ensure the quality and reliability of power flowing through its system.
Without the ERC’s approval, the NGCP warned of increasing power fluctuations in the national grid.
“NGCP considered these extensions as a middle ground strategy to remain compliant with the relevant DOE circulars while at the same time preserving the integrity of the transmission grid with the continuous provision of [ancillary services], especially during the summer months when it is needed the most,” it said in its March 25 letter to Lotilla.
Given the nature of regulatory processes and applications, the NGCP said provisional approval for new Aspas might not be expected earlier than June.
The ERC ruling, promulgated on Dec. 12, 2022, but released to the NGCP only on March 22, 2023, said the DOE, through Department Circular No. 2019-12-0018, only allowed the procurement of ancillary services through firm contracts and not month-on-month agreements.
The NGCP argued, however, that the DOE circular only covered new Aspas and not existing deals.
“With the ERC’s denial of this interim arrangement, our hands are tied. The Philippine transmission grid shall be vulnerable to power interruptions resulting from an artificial lack of [ancillary services]. Without an existing Aspas, NGCP cannot nominate power plants to provide the critical services,” the NGCP said.
“Unless the ERC withdraws its order… the Philippine grid will unnecessarily be vulnerable to [automatic load dropping, or ALD], caused by the artificial lack of ancillary services,” it added.
ALD refers to unexpected power interruptions caused by the deliberate removal of preselected loads from a power system due to abnormal conditions.
“Kon ina nga bagay sundon and buruloligan naton tanan, we do our part as consumers and LGUs sa conservation, mapulihan ta dya ang problema naton diri sa kuryente sa Western Visayas,” said Defensor.
The governor added the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the Provincial Civil Defense Cluster will convene today at the Iloilo provincial capitol to implement measures that will help address the problem by implementing the advisory of DOE to conserve energy.
Defensor also encouraged the public to conserve energy./PN