President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. directed the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Friday to hasten the completion of the rate reset review for system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), following the massive blackout in Western Visayas.

In a video message, Marcos said the NGCP had a crucial two-hour window to prevent the system collapse but failed to resort to manual load dropping, resulting in the regionwide power crisis since Jan. 2.

“NGCP’s failure to act during the crucial two-hour window is a missed opportunity. As the systems operator, NGCP must proactively engage with distribution utilities and cooperatives to manage loads and prevent such system collapses,” Marcos said in his message uploaded on the Presidential Communications Office’s official Facebook page.

“In this regard, I have also directed the ERC to complete the reset of NGCP’s rates without further delay, to ensure NGCP’s compliance with its statutory and regulatory obligations, and to defend in no uncertain terms against any attempt to defer, delay, or prevent the implementation of regulatory measures,” he added.

Marcos stressed that while power has been restored, the situation has caused significant hardship to residents, crippling businesses, compromising livelihoods, and endangering those in need of healthcare.

Power was out across the islands of Panay, Guimaras and Negros on Tuesday afternoon due to the tripping of multiple power plants which isolated the three islands from the rest of the Visayas grid.

Marcos lamented that this was not the first time that such a blackout had occurred, noting that a similar incident happened in Panay in April 2023, prompting an examination of the NGCP’s performance.

He also expressed dismay that the NGCP failed to fulfill its promise to ensure the timely completion of the Mindanao-Visayas and Panay-Negros-Cebu interconnections by August 2023, adding that he is hopeful that the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection would be completed by late January of this year.

“Accountability lies with the NGCP. They are tasked with grid stability. Stability involves proactive responses to breakdowns and unexpected events, a duty that NGCP unfortunately has not fulfilled adequately,” Marcos said.

“I wish to reiterate our call that I made last year, for NGCP to be transparent to its stakeholders, utilities, and regulators, to acknowledge its responsibility and be transparent in identifying weaknesses in transmission systems. They must identify and address these issues as they are crucial for a resilient and stable power infrastructure,” he added.

Marcos said the government would work hard to resolve the issue and prevent similar power crises in the future.

“Our commitment is to the well-being and prosperity of every Filipino,” he said.

The PHP7.09-billion difference, equivalent to PHP35 billion for five years, between the ERC-determined annual revenue requirement (ARR) of the NGCP of PHP36.7 billion and the maximum annual revenue of PHP43.789 billion collected by NGCP from consumers through the transmission charge from 2016 to 2020, will most likely be refunded to consumers.

This would be reflected in lower transmission rates on power consumers’ electricity bills. The ARR of PHP36.7 billion is contained in the results released by the ERC as part of its partial initial determination for NGCP’s rate reset covering the years 2016 to 2020. (PNA)

Photo credit: Facebook/opgovph