The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines (IIEE) has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to create a task force that will conduct the technical audit being conducted by the agency.
The parties signed the MOA on Monday, August 8, and agreed that the engineers will not charge for their services.
“It is imperative for us to immediately determine the causes, whether technical or contractual, of the current power supply situation,” Energy secretary Alfonso Cusi said in a statement.
“We have to find a lasting solution to this recurring problem as well as establishing and institutionalizing far-reaching formulae, because it is our people who are bearing the brunt of power interruptions and we cannot allow that to continue.”
DOE said that the IIEE has over 47, 000 engineers and master electricians across the Philippines.
The partnership is in relation to the audit currently being conducted by the DOE and its other partners, following the shortage in power reserves in the Luzon grid.
The also aim to determine “the flaws in the generation-transmission-distribution chain that cause deficiencies in our power supply.”
Pursuant to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), the DOE and IIEE agreed to look into current mechanisms aimed at ensuring the safety, efficiency, quality, reliability and security of the power system.
“The DOE assures the public that it continues to monitor the developments in the power industry and to exhaust all possible measures to resolve the power supply situation in the country,” the statement read.
