Senator Win Gatchalian seeks to decouple the system operation function of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) from its franchise, saying that the government should be in charge of the main grid’s system operations in the interest of national security.
Gatchalian filed Senate Bill 2943 which, if enacted into law, will amend Republic Act 9511, that granted NGCP a franchise to engage in transmitting electricity. “Decoupling NGCP’s system operation function and enabling the government to take charge in its place will enhance national security in this critical infrastructure,” Gatchalian said.
He noted that there had been national security concerns over NGCP’s control over the system operations of the main grid following reports that Chinese engineers had access to “key elements of the system and that power could be deactivated remotely on Beijing’s orders.” China’s State Grid Corporation has a 40% stake in NGCP.
The vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Gatchalian explained that removing NGCP’s system operation function would allow the company to focus on completing its transmission network projects which have faced persistent delays.
Gatchalian further noted that despite the delays in NGCP’s transmission projects, the costs of such infrastructure developments are already being passed on to consumers through higher monthly electric bills of consumers, further aggravating their financial burden.
He noted that the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has already flagged NGCP’s failure to comply with a Department of Energy (DOE) circular mandating NGCP to contract ancillary services. Such ancillary services are necessary to ensure the uninterrupted transmission of electricity from power plants to end users.
Under the proposed measure, construction of transmission facilities which are not part of the Transmission Development Plan (TDP) may be undertaken by a third-party contractor, the senator said. However, the facility involved must be turned over to the NGCP for management, improvement, expansion, maintenance, rehabilitation, repair, and refurbishment. This will enable NGCP to focus on the construction of transmission facilities as provided under the TDP, he said.
The DOE earlier said it supports the removal of NGCP’s system operation function following the company’s repeated failure to address power outages in certain parts of the country.
