Local officials are pushing for long-term solutions to the recurring power interruptions in the Visayas, including a review of the law governing the electricity industry and the charges being passed on to consumers.
Iloilo City Rep. Julienne “Jam” Baronda raised anew the issue of the region’s power supply during a House hearing Monday, questioning the repeated outages of power plants and the resulting shortage in the Visayas grid.
Baronda also questioned the ancillary service charges included in consumers’ electricity bills, particularly whether consumers should be charged for backup power that was supposed to help prevent supply disruptions. House Resolution No. 1430, which she co-authored, calls for an inquiry into the cost and actual delivery of these services.
She also pushed for the completion of the Batangas-Mindoro-Panay interconnection, which would eventually allow additional power to reach Panay from Luzon.
“The generation and transmission problems must be addressed through long-term and short-term solutions by the Department of Energy, Energy Regulatory Commission, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, and independent power producers,” Baronda said.
Iloilo City Councilor Rex Sarabia, meanwhile, called for a review of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), saying the recurring rotational brownouts are affecting households, businesses, investments and jobs.
“There is a need to amend the EPIRA or at least revisit the implementation of the same or modify its execution, as the current state of the legal framework does not serve the interest of the people,” Sarabia said.
On Monday, Sept. 21, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines placed the Visayas grid under yellow alert from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. amid the unavailability of several generating units, including the tripping of Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 2.IMT
