‘KEPT IN THE DARK’: Iloilo power distributors lament lack of info from grid company

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

As power outages across Western Visayas continued throughout the weekend, electricity providers in Iloilo province blew their tops Saturday afternoon due to the lack of information from the country’s grid operator.

The general managers of the Iloilo Electric Cooperatives (ILECO) I, II, and III held a joint press conference in Iloilo City on Saturday to apprise the public of the situation.

Atty. James Balsomo of ILECO III said that they have pestered the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) for information as to the actual cause of the system disturbance that led to the 3-day blackouts in the middle of a sweltering summer.

The NGCP on Friday evening posted on its Facebook page that a line owned by a distribution utility (DU) tripped, causing a system disturbance, in turn leading to power plants disengaging from the system.

The company also skirted responsibility, stating that its protection systems “functioned as intended”.

“The grid is under the responsibility of the NGCP. If there is a problem, they should tell us and not point fingers. We should own whatever is incumbent upon us. If there was a problem on our end, we would own it,” Balsomo expressed.

“The power supply in our island is very limited. We [had] no information whatsoever on how much power is being supplied to Panay Island via the grid. Panay [Island] is connected to the main grid via a submarine cable connecting [to] Negros,” he explained.

He also begrudged that the NGCP has not revealed plans to improve the grid and in turn, the power security in the province.

“The power security of Panay is dependent on the NGCP. […] Now, what is the plan of NGCP to ensure the power security of Panay? Nothing. We have not heard, with all due respect [to NGCP], from their representative. We [DUs] are all very interested, because our [improvement and maintenance] plans will be useless,” Balsomo added.

Engr. Jose Redmond Roquios of ILECO II also refuted the NGCP’s statement, saying that this was not a new situation.

“It has happened many times before that when there is a fault [in the grid], the protection [systems] isolate it without affecting the whole system. It is not a valid reason [for the NGCP] for the collapse of the system of the NGCP here in Panay Island,” said Roquios.

Engr. Miguel Paguntalan Jr. of ILECO I told the NGCP “to be man enough” to admit their responsibility over the matter.

“I would like to appeal to the NGCP, you must own it. If it is your fault, you have to do something, to present truthful and correct information in its explanation. Because if you keep going around, Thursday, [it’s the] DU, Friday, generation, you cannot really disclose what it is, so the people will get confused on what is the truth,” Paguntalan said.

Balsomo also challenged the NGCP to provide its bases for their statements implicating the DUs, adding that it would raise questions on its reliability, as it would mean that one of the seven DUs in the region can shut down a section of the grid.

“Our question is, the fault that came from a [DU’s] system was what caused the disturbance in the grid, what does that mean for the NGCP? Does that mean that the fault bypassed the protection of our substations? After by-passing the [DU’s] substation’s protection, it then by-passed the NGCP’s substation?” he said.

“Give us the data, so that if what they are saying is true, scientifically established, then we at the DUs would audit our facilities. We’ll review so we can avoid the same [situations] happening in the future,” he added.

Asked whether they could seek other sources aside from the NGCP, Paguntalan explained that the current system does not allow them to bypass the grid and connect directly to the generators.

But he mentioned that ILECO I is considering having its own solar facility, which would not be connected to the grid, as this is encouraged by the National Electrification Administration (NEA).

Balsomo also mentioned that they would write to the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to ensure that transmission charges will not rise, “in the interest of protecting consumers”.

POLITICAL REACTIONS

Local government leaders and lawmakers have also raised grave concerns over the weekend, as businesses big and small had already been affected by the power losses.

DOE Secretary Raphael Perpetuo Lotilla and ERC chairperson Mona Dimalanta joined a meeting on Saturday with the NGCP, DUs, and local government leaders including Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas and Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. as well as Uswag Ilonggo Representative James Ang Jr.

Ang shared his frustrations with the media about the NGCP’s lack of clarity as to when power would be restored, with a commitment to have it returned by 12:00 noon on Sunday.

He added that while the NGCP suggested that it would upgrade its facilities, it would take a substantive amount of money and time which would not immediately respond to the ongoing situation.

Ang said he will personally monitor and act on the problems and the solutions.

“Personally, I commit to push and support for better facilities and improvements needed for NGCP and our power distributors to help them become more efficient in providing service for the public. We should always think forward because our efforts will make a big difference, especially for the people of Region 6. We will continue to monitor and ensure accountability and responsibility from NGCP and all our power suppliers, for the benefit of the Ilonggo people,” Ang said.

Treñas, on his part, mulled the declaration of a State of Calamity, which would have allowed the DOE to implement response measures to stabilize power in the city.

The office of Senator Raffy Tulfo, who chairs the upper house’s Committee on Energy, said in his Facebook page that they are actively engaging with the DOE and the ERC to monitor the situation.

Iloilo City Rep. Julienne Baronda (Lone District) and Iloilo Rep. Michael Gorriceta (2^nd District) have also expressed making representations with the House of Representatives to investigate the situation.

The DOE issued an advisory as of Sunday, 5:00 p.m., indicating the 100 percent restoration of power to Panay Island, with 274.64 megawatts or 43 percent of the total capacity in the island.

The NGCP is the sole operator of the power grids in the country, with its franchise granted via Republic Act No. 9511 in 2009.

It is a consortium of three companies comprised of the Monte Oro Grid Resources Corporation, led by Henry Sy, Jr., the Calaca High Power Corporation led by Robert Coyiuto, Jr., and the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) as technical partner.

Daily Guardian has reached out to the NGCP for comment, but it has not responded as of this writing.