Senator Win Gatchalian called on the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to investigate the growing number of power plants on forced outage and determine whether these facilities are still complying with the agency’s reliability index standards.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) again placed the Visayas grid under yellow alert recently due to insufficient power reserves. The NGCP said 14 power plants have been on forced outage since the start of May.
“Itong mga yellow at red alert, dulot ‘yan ng unplanned outages.”
“Itong mga yellow at red alert, dulot ‘yan ng unplanned outages. Dapat imbestigahan ng ERC kung sumusunod pa rin ang mga plantang ito sa itinakdang standards ng gobyerno dahil paulit-ulit natin itong nakikita tuwing summer,” Gatchalian said.
The veteran legislator stressed that repeated forced outages directly burden consumers amid fears of another electricity rate hike this June.
“Ang ERC ay may kapangyarihan na gawing staggered o pakonti-konti ang pagtaas ng presyo ng kuryente.”
“Ang ERC ay may kapangyarihan na gawing staggered o pakonti-konti ang pagtaas ng presyo ng kuryente,” the seasoned lawmaker added.
The senator emphasized the need for stricter monitoring of power plant performance and accountability among generation companies to help prevent recurring yellow and red alerts, especially during the summer months.
