Marcos: NGCP had time to avert Panay blackout

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Friday said the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) had time to prevent the massive power outage in Panay Island. 

In a video message, Marcos stressed that the accountability lies with the NGCP given that the agency is tasked to ensure grid stability. 

He said that '''stability involves proactive responses to breakdowns and unexpected events, a duty that NGCP unfortunately has not fulfilled adequately.'' 

''The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, NGCP, had a crucial two-hour window to prevent the system collapse, as highlighted by the Independent Market Electricity Operator of the Philippines or IMEOP. Regrettably, during this period, NGCP failed to resort to manual load dropping resulting in the crisis that we are facing now,'' Marcos said.

The President said that NGCP's failure to act during the crucial two-hour window was 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.

"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 pointed out that this is not the first time that such a blackout has occurred. He mentioned that in April 2023, a similar incident happened in Panay, prompting an examination of NGCP's performance.

"It revealed the importance of completing the Panay-Negros-Cebu interconnection by August of 2023," the Chief Executive said.

"The NGCP assured us that the Visayas Grid had sufficient capacity, assuming timely completion of the Mindanao-Visayas and Panay-Negros-Cebu interconnections. However, we find ourselves in January 2024, far from the promised completion date of August 2023, and we are still, still hoping for the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection by late January of 2024," he added.

Authorities are already looking at two possible causes of the collapse of the power plants: damage at the plant, and disturbance on the grid.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said the power supply in Panay Island has been restored Friday following the massive outage that affected thousands of residents there.

Marcos also directed the ERC to complete the reset of NGCP's rates without further delay, to ensure its compliance with statutory and regulatory obligations.

This is also "to defend in no uncertain terms against any attempt to defer, delay, or prevent the implementation of regulatory measures," Marcos said.

Before the President's video message was released, the Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday afternoon also blamed the NGCP for the power outage in Panay Island as it expressed support for a review of the grid operator's congressional franchise.—LDF, VDV, GMA Integrated News