The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has expressed their support for the passage of the “Anti-Power Line Disturbance Act,” which criminalize planting trees and any form of construction within the right-of-way (ROW) clearances of power lines in the country.
The NGCP is hopeful that the bill will be refiled in the 17th Congress and will get the support of House Committee on Energy chair Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Senate Committee on Energy chair.
The act, introduced by Rep. Reynaldo Umali in the 16th Congress, seeks to “regulate the planting and prohibiting the construction of any structure below or within the right of way limit of all power transmission lines.”
This will allow the NGCP, distribution utilities, and electric cooperatives to remove any form of obstruction to the country’s power line.
Under the proposed bill, persons planting trees, as well as construction within the ROW of power transmission and distribution lines will be penalized.
The proposed law is expected to eliminate the delays in NGCP’s project construction and regular maintenance activities, NGCP said.
“Support in the form of legislation will ultimately be for the benefit of power consumers. The issue on settling ROW cases has delayed both current and new projects of NGCP. It is also a recurring and worsening issue, especially in Mindanao and Northern Luzon,” they added.
NGCP is a privately owned corporation that handles the operation, maintenance, and development of the country’s power grid.
Read more about the Anti-Power Line Disturbance Act here.