The Energy Regulatory Commission has asked the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines to explain why it should not be penalized for its failure to comply with existing policies designed to ensure enough power reserves when power plant capacities decline.
In an order dated September 15, the ERC asked the NGCP to explain why no administrative penalty should be imposed for its failure to comply with a Department of Energy circular on contracting ancillary services that are necessary to support the uninterrupted transmission of electricity from power plants to end users.
The regulator cited three provisions of DOE Circular No. 2021-10-0031 which NGCP allegedly violated.
It said the NGCP failed to obtain the DOE’s approval of its Ancillary Service Agreement Procurement Plan (ASAPP) and the terms of reference (TOR) of the Ancillary Service Competitive Selection Process (CSP), as well as complete the competitive bidding within six months from the effectivity of the DOE circular.
The ERC order came after the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Pampanga and Zambales experienced power outages. That day, the NGCP raised red and yellow alerts in the Luzon grid lasting several hours as seven power plants went on forced outages and three others reduced their capacities.
A yellow alert is placed when power reserves fall below the ideal levels while a red alert is declared due to insufficient electricity, which may result in rotating power interruptions.
The NGCP should come up with a good explanation for failing to ensure the availability of reserve power through ancillary services that could have helped prevent the power situation from reaching precarious levels when power plants go offline or are forced to reduce capacities.
After the explanation is made, it should be immediately followed by swift action, so further widespread power interruptions and grid instability are prevented and Filipinos enjoy better quality power with a pinch of extra reliability.*
