CHIZ SEEKS GENCOS' ACCOUNTABILITY FOR UNSCHEDULED POWER OUTAGES

Sen. Chiz Escudero said on Wednesday (April 24) that the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) must enforce stricter oversight on power generation companies (gencos) to ensure compliance with their scheduled outages.

Additionally, Escudero said the gencos should be compelled to provide transparent explanations and justifications for any unplanned outages.

"The DOE and ERC should rein in the gencos to stay true to their scheduled outages and should be required to explain and justify the reasons behind these forced outages," the senator said.

According to Escudero, accountability measures should be in place to address any unreasonable or unjustified downtime resulting from negligence, incompetence or internal faults within these companies.

"They should be held accountable for any unreasonable or unjustified outage brought about by their negligence, incompetence or their own fault," he said.

"No amount of ancillary or stand-by power can guarantee sufficient supply nor be able to stabilize the grid if this forced outages continues to persist unchecked," he added.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) yesterday (April 23) placed the Luzon grid on red and yellow alerts and the Visayas grid on yellow alert after 42 power plants either stopped supplying electricity or reduced their output.