MANILA, Philippines- Dapat managot ang lahat ng power generation companies sa naganap na brownout sa ilang bahagi ng bansa sanhi ng red at yellow alerts na dapat naiwasan alinsunod na itinakdang probisyon ng kanilang prangkisa.
Ganito ang pananaw ni Senador Sherwin Gatchalian na tumutuko sa red at yellow alerts na ibinabala sa Luzon at Visayas grid noong nakaraang linggo na nawalan ng enerhiya sanhi ng puwersahang power plant outages na umabot sa 1,811 megawatts o mas higit dolbe sa four-year average na 700 megawatts.
“This is on the gencos (generation companies) because we have to remember that they should have reliability. Their power plants should not suddenly go on outage. They should be able to anticipate their needs, and there are power plants that did not have crude oil, and that failed to anticipate,” ayon kay Gatchalian sa press conference.
”May accountability sila na i-maintain ang planta nila. Maraming issue na pwedeng iwasan na hindi naiwasan. Bakit nagkaganun? ‘Yun ang gusto namin marinig sa DOE (Department of Energy) at dapat masagot,” dagdag niya.
Dahil dito, tiniyak ni Gatchalian na maghahain siya ng resolusyon upang paimbestigahan ang isyu.
“I will file a resolution so this matter can be investigated thoroughly. I am looking at ancillary reserves. What is the penalty if the [power plants’] ancillary reserve does not reach 100%? In this case, even hydrogen power plants suffered outages,” wika ng senador.
“I call on the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) to look at these power generation companies’ reliability index for accountability. If there are non-compliant entities, they should pay fines. Without these interventions, we will suffer from rotating brownouts due to higher temperatures and increased power demand,” giit pa niya.
Kasabay nito, tinabla naman ni Gatchalian na gumamit ng nuclear energy upang matugunan ang pangangailangan ng bansa sa enerhiya.
“We are not ready for that. We don’t even have a regulator for that, we don’t have treaties in place [for such policy], and we don’t have a waste disposal system for that and we don’t have a working nuclear plant,” pahayag ni Gatchalian.
Naunang inihayag ni Senador Francis “Chiz” Escudero na dapat mahigpit na ipatupad ng DOE at ERC ang oversight sa power generation companies (gencos) upang matiyak na tumutupad sila sa kanilang scheduled outages.
Dapat atasan din ang generation companies na magbigay ng transparent explanations at justifications sa anumang 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,” ayon kay Escudero sa statement.
“They should be held accountable for any unreasonable or unjustified outage brought about by their negligence, incompetence or their own fault,” giit niya. Ernie Reyes
