Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday called on the Department of Energy (DOE), the Energy Regulatory Commission, and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to show the necessary foresight and competence in addressing the country’s power supply shortages.

Hontiveros expressed disappointment over the “continued failure” to tackle the worsening energy challenges, particularly during the summer, despite their primary mandates to guarantee supply adequacy and system reliability.

“Parang kulang sa energy ang mismong Department of Energy at puro kabig naman ang NGCP. DOE’s mandate demands foresight and competence to ensure adequacy of current and future power supply while the NGCP secures the whole system from disturbances, including unplanned and forced outages. Proactive tayo dapat,” Hontiveros said.

“They cannot go on giving us nothing. Kumilos naman sila,” she added.

The senator strongly recommended that the DOE reintroduce a “proven industry-standard method” that had been utilized even prior to the enactment of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).

“Energy experts I have spoken with say that the DOE is so much better off using computations through loss of load probability (LOLP), and it is one they are already familiar with. LOLP has a distinct advantage when it comes to forecasting power supply availability. Right now, the agency is computing with a fixed 25 percentage reserve, but it hasn’t been reliable, especially during this summer season,” Hontiveros explained.

The LOLP serves as an indicator of the reliability performance of the power supply system, projecting the annual occurrence of days when a brownout could happen.

“Kung ginamit lang ng DOE ang LOLP, nalaman sana nito ang kinakailangang dagdag na capacity para hindi lalagpas sa isang araw kada taon ang may brownout imbes na halos araw-araw may yellow at red alert. DOE must reevaluate their methodology,” Hontiveros explained.

Hontiveros urged the DOE to enlist experts who could assist in reintroducing the LOLP for planning the nation’s power supply.

“Hindi sapat magdasal para hindi mag-shut down ang mga power plants natin, kailangang kumilos ang DOE batay sa probabilidad at pleksibilidad na maaring gawin in anticipation of a crisis situation,” Hontiveros said. “Dapat real planning for real development. Sabi nga, nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa.”

Regarding NGCP, Hontiveros repeated her plea to prioritize system security over aiming for substantial dividends by the end of the fiscal year. The Senator referred to April data from TransCo, indicating that NGCP had only contracted 46% of regulating reserves on a firm basis, 47% for contingency reserves, and 28% for dispatchable reserves.

“Bakit hindi 100%? Pareho din lang ba sila sa DOE na nagdadasal na walang titirik na planta along the way?” Hontiveros asked.

📷 Sen. Risa Hontiveros FB