The mandate of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is confined to transmission of power from producers to grid-connected areas of the country, the corporation said.
In a statement, NGCP said that as the transmission service provider, it can only give an overview of the current supply and demand situation and endeavor to dispatch any and all available power. It cannot intervene on matters concerning power generation, it added.
“We reiterate our earlier pronouncements that there was no transmission disturbance before the tripping of the PEDC Unit 1 (83MW) at 12:06PM. After this event, NGCP was able to recover the transmission system and normalize voltage. This normal voltage situation persisted until several power plants inexplicably tripped at 2:19PM. Data from our system shows no abnormality in voltage and system stability,” the NGCP added.
Despite this, critics persist on blaming NGCP for what are clearly problems arising from the unplanned shutdowns of power generators, the statement added.
“It is alarming to hear policymakers immediately make conclusions based on assumptions contrary to fact. We are firm in our position that the system prior to the 2:19PM multiple tripping was normal, and our actions were undertaken within protocols. Any contrary statement is speculative,” it said.
“We firmly refute allegations suggesting that NGCP failed in its obligation to stabilize the transmission system. We also take exception to the allegations that we were less than transparent in providing information to the public. We provide regular updates to all stakeholders, including the media and government units (LGUs), through print, radio, broadcast, social media, and text blasts,” he added.
Rather than using NGCP as a scapegoat, “we urge policymakers to be objective in their search for facts and not coddle certain sectors. This is not a time to push personal or political agendas, but a time for honest-to-goodness solution finding. We again reiterate our push for a comprehensive industry-wide approach to resolve the persistent power supply issues on Panay Island and elsewhere in the country,” it added.
The NGCP assured stakeholders that it will continue to work closely with concerned government agencies and LGUs to expedite the resolution of the issue.#