Senate to hold inquiry on rotational brownouts in Luzon

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has filed a resolution seeking for an inquiry on the rotational brownouts in Luzon.

Gatchalian, chair of the Senate energy committee, stated the need to discuss the electricity supply in Luzon during the Senate session on Wednesday.

“This is a critical situation and I would like to request the Department of Energy to get all hands on deck especially in the next coming days because from the forecast that I am seeing, there will be problem of load dropping in the next eight days,” he said.

The lawmaker noted that 339,000 households in 90 barangays in 16 local government units have experienced power outages on June 1.

He also cited the power interruption experienced in two vaccination sites in Valenzuela City.

In filing Senate Resolution 740, the lawmaker has reiterated the DOE’s responsibility in ensuring the quality, reliability, security, and affordability of electric power supply in the country.

Gatchalian said it is crucial to hold DOE accountable over its failure to address power supply shortages since 2016.

The Senate energy panel chairman reiterated that the DOE officials have given them assurance in a hearing held last April 27 that there is no high risk of supply shortage during the summer season. However, some areas in Luzon experienced rotational brownouts on May 31 and June 1 due to red alerts.

“Furthermore, it is crucial for the DOE to provide long-term solutions to this problem and a specific timeline for these plans, to include the hastening of the build out of new power plants, aggressively utilizing energy efficiency and conservation, and contracting sufficient ancillary reserves,” he said.

“All these things are necessary to protect the public and the economy from losses due to power outages and the resulting high prices of electricity due to limited power supply,” the lawmaker added.

Gatchalian said it is “high time” to provide long-term solutions in the “recurring” problem of electricity supply shortage which the country encountered for the past five years.

Recently, Gatchalian expressed dismay over the rotational brownouts in Luzon, warning that COVID-19 vaccines are at risk of being spoiled.

Apart from Gatchalian, Senator Manny Pacquiao also raised the issue of electricity supply in a privilege speech on Wednesday, hitting DOE chief Alfonso Cusi for allegedly prioritizing politics before his duties as Energy secretary.

At least three senators personally experienced power outages in their own homes. This forced them to go offline during the Senate session last Tuesday.—AOL, GMA News