Compensation sought for Panay residents who suffered losses in power outage

Lawmakers and a group of Panay residents expressed outrage and dismay over the recent four-day power outage in Western Visayas, which they said had a massive effect on lives and livelihood.

During Thursday’s hearing of the House Committee on Energy, they called to penalize those responsible and sought compensation for those who suffered losses due to the massive power interruption.

“Halos wala pang isang taon tatlong beses nang nangyayari ito. Paulit-ulit. Ang ipinagtataka natin hanggang ngayon walang nananagot… Sino ang sisingilin ng mga manggagawang nawalan ng trabaho? Sino ang sisingilin ng maliliit na negosyante na bumagsak ang kabuhayan dahil sa brownout?” Bayan-Panay Secretary-General Elmer Forro said.

“We demand a refund for those who were affected in this four-day power black out. ‘yun na lang siguro ‘yung pwede nating mabigay na pa-konswelo sa kanila,” Iloilo 2nd District Rep. Michael Gorriceta added.

• DOE eyes P2 million per day fine, review of tax perks of NGCP after Panay blackout

At least two solons have sought a review of the franchise granted to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

“Considering the power outage misery we experienced, we better take a serious look whether the franchise is being adhered or not,” Iloilo City Rep. Julienne Baronda told the panel.

The NGCP asserted that the grid was in normal condition prior to the power outage, and attributed the incident to multiple tripping of power plants. It called for the inclusion of power generation planning and resource assessment in formulating the country’s energy development roadmap.

But an Iloilo lawmaker was not convinced, and called out NGCP’s delayed reporting of the incident to authorities.

The Energy Regulatory Commission said the NGCP is obligated to report to the commission via text message within 15 minutes and submit a written report within an hour from the so-called “significant incidents”, which in Visayas, meant the loss of a large generator or anything above 5 megawatts.

“For the first PEDC unit that went out at 12 noon, we did not receive a significant incident report. The first report that we got was already following the cascading at 2pm,” ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said.

“Proximate cause: multiple unplanned outages of power plants, no transmission issue. DOE, TransCo, do you agree?” Iloilo 3rd District Rep. Lorenz Defensor asked.

• Energy chief blames NGCP for Panay blackout

“As reported ng GenCos (power generation companies), no,” Energy Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan replied.

“No, sir… There is also a problem in the voltage, which is connected to transmission,” National Transmission Corporation President and CEO Fortunato Leynes also said.

“It is important to emphasize that we handled the system in compliance with the rules and using resources at our disposal during that period… we do our best to do our job on what’s happening,” NGCP President and CEO Anthony Almeda told the panel.

APEC Party List Rep. Sergio Dagooc recommended amending the Grid Code, and separating NGCP’s transmission service provider and system operator functions.

The government-owned-and-controlled TransCo is open to taking over the system operator function.

“Dapat kasi magkaiba ang transmission service provider at saka system operator… Pwede n’yong hindi ipakita ang actual na data… Pwede n’yong i-doktor ang data para mapagtakpan ang kamalian sa grid code,” Dagooc said.

“Do you think it’s about time that the system operation of our country be back to the Philippine government?” Laguna 1st District Rep. Ann Matibag asked.

• 'Mga sapul ng 4 araw na brownout sa Panay dapat bigyan ng kompensasyon'

“Very much ready to take over systems operation function,” Leynes replied.

“Pumasok kami sa isang kontrata na gobyerno ang nagdikta. Kung babaguhin nila ‘yan, nasa kanila ‘yan. Pero ‘yun ang siguro, ang magiging reputasyon lang natin ay baka masyadong malaki ang risk, na papasok ka sa isang kontrata at hindi pa tapos ‘yan ay babaguhin na agad. We submit to government and their wisdom,” NGCP Spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza commented in an interview with the media.

NGCP admitted there were delays in completing the transmission lines connecting the islands of Cebu, Negros and Panay, but it expects the project to be completed this March. According to the Department of Energy, until this backbone becomes operational, the possibility of another widespread power outage in Panay remains.

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