DOE warns of sanctions for energy stakeholders amid power plant outages

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday said sanctions will be imposed on energy sector stakeholders if they are found to have committed lapses that contributed to the forced outages of several power plants.

Energy Undersecretary Mario Marasigan said the DOE is awaiting responses from power generation companies and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on what happened and how they are resolving plant issues.

He said stakeholders are also being asked to provide an exact time for when they will be able to fully restore services.

“Mas masusi po ang pakikipag-ugnayan natin sa kanila dahil kung mayroon pong pagkukulang ang sinumang stakeholders natin sa ating industriya ng kuryente, iimbestigahan po natin ‘yan,” Marasigan said in an interview on Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

(We are coordinating with them more because if any of our stakeholders in the electricity industry have shortcomings, we will investigate them.)

“At kung may makita po tayong pagkukulang sa parte ng ating stakeholders, ito po ay iendorso natin sa ating Energy Regulatory Commission upang patawan po ng karampatang parusa o penalties na naaayon po sa ating mga rules and regulations,” he added.

(And if we find any shortcomings on the part of our stakeholders, we will report them to the Energy Regulatory Commission to impose appropriate penalties in accordance with our rules and regulations.)

The NGCP said the Luzon and Visayas grids will be placed under yellow and red alert anew from Friday afternoon to evening due to forced outages of several power plants, coupled with increased demand amid the hot, dry season weather.

A yellow alert is declared when the reserve power in the grid becomes low. While supply is still enough to meet current demand, it no longer reaches the required safety margin.

At this level, the possibility of rotational power interruptions increases.

Meanwhile, a red alert is the highest alert level and is declared when the electricity supply is insufficient to meet demand since the reserves are depleted.

During this status, widespread power interruptions or rotational brownouts are expected as electricity is temporarily cut in certain areas on a scheduled basis to prevent the entire grid from collapsing. –NB, GMA News