Senate probe on forced outages of power plants to begin May 6

The Senate Energy Committee will start on May 6 its investigation on the alarming power supply issues, which caused massive brownouts in several parts of the country.

Committee chairperson Senator Raffy Tulfo also cited the declaration of red and yellow alerts in the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao grids by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

In his Senate Resolution 1008, Tulfo said they want to determine the cause of power plant outages and unscheduled shutdowns and hold accountable erring government agencies, generation companies, and other relevant industry players.

The senator also wants to ensure that the resulting increases in the market prices of electricity will not be shouldered by consumers.

Last April 25, 2024, NGCP placed the Luzon grid under yellow alert as 19 power plants were on forced outage, while one was running on a derated capacity. Tulfo said this resulted in 2,117.3 megawatts (MW) of electricity unavailable.

The Visayas and Mindanao grids were also placed under yellow alert status recently. In Visayas, 24 power plants were on forced outage while 12 operated on derated capacities. In Mindanao, nine power plants were on forced shutdown while five ran on derated capacities.

Tulfo related other instances in which NGCP put under red and yellows alerts the power grids nationwide. He pointed out that several areas experienced temporary power interruptions because of these.

A Red Alert is issued when the power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement, while a Yellow Alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.

“It is important to determine the cause of the insufficiency of power supply to meet consumer demand, including the cause of power plant outages and unscheduled shutdowns,” Tulfo said in his Senate Resolution 1008.

As early as April 16, Tulfo already coordinated with the NGCP to ensure that the corporation, along with the Department of Energy (DOE), will strictly monitor the generation companies to avoid brownout.

Meanwhile, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) noted that placing both Luzon and Visayas grids on red and yellow alerts has also caused market prices to increase from P5.55 per kilowatt hour (kwh) to P13.39 per kwh in Luzon.

The market price for Visayas went up from P5.73 per kwh to P14.64 per kwh.

In his resolution, Tulfo also underscored the need to ensure that proper measures and interventions are being undertaken by the relevant industry players to ensure there is sufficient power supply and to prevent rotational brownouts nationwide.

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