Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urges for accountability among power-generating companies that fail to provide a steady electricity supply, resulting in economic setbacks.
In a report by the Philippine Star, Gatchalian, the Senate Committee on Energy Chair, called the attention of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to look into generation companies that frequently breach the reliability index.
Gatchalian clarified that the accountability of generation companies is addressed in ERC Resolution No. 10, series of 2020. This resolution mandates the maximum allowable number of days for annual unplanned outages in generating assets.
Prior to this, Gatchalian demanded harsher punishments for major energy industry players found culpable of improperly handling power-related concerns that cause financial losses, stressing that the severity of the punishment should be equivalent to the losses suffered by the impacted areas.
It is worth noting that during the extended power outage in Western Visayas lasting for several days, the economic losses reported by both Iloilo province and Iloilo City have amounted to Php 5.7 billion.
Since 2020, the reliability index mandates that power facilities utilizing pulverized coal technology are permitted a total “unavailability” or outage period of 44.7 days. This allocation comprises 27.9 days for unplanned outages and an additional 16.8 days for forced or unplanned outages.