TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – With reports of grid status alerts in power supply causing outages in different parts of the country, Senator Win Gatchalian has urged the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to fulfill its mandate of contracting ancillary services.
In his call, the Senator pointed out that the Philippines is a typhoon-prone country, and uninterrupted power supply is necessary in supporting critical infrastructure and services for recovery and rehabilitation efforts in times of calamities.
“The flow of energy supply should be stable and dependable to ensure operational reliability and prevent power outages that adversely impact the lives of our people and the economy in general. NGCP must do its job and contract ancillary services,” he added.
As the vice chair of the Senate Committee on Energy made the call following last month’s elevation of the grid status in Luzon from yellow to red alert and rotational brownouts that occurred in several provinces due to the shutdown and lower output of certain power plants.
Moreover, it was also said that there is an urgency to make contracts considering that the existing 899 megawatts (MV) of such ancillary services are set to expire by 2023 and another 568 MW by 2024.
About 1,511 MWs of ancillary services have already expired in 2020.
As a result, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) had recently issues a show cause order to NGCP, which the senator commended, for its failure to comply with its obligations on contracting ancillary services. TNF