Review of NGCP franchise pushed after island-wide Panay blackout

PRESIDENTIAL son Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos yesterday called for a review of the franchise of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) following the island-wide power outage in Panay Island, as well as other parts of Negros, last January 2.

Areas such as Guimaras Island, Iloilo, Antique, Aklan, and Capiz were among those affected by the power outage, adversely impacting the livelihoods of residents, particularly small business owners.

Electricity supply in Panay Island was restored last Friday but NGCP has been insisting that there was no transmission disturbance before the tripping of the Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) unit 1’s 83 megawatts at 12:06 p.m. of January 2.

The NGCP has said it was able to recover the transmission system and normalize voltage until several power plants inexplicably tripped at 2:19 p.m. of the same day.

Marcos, a senior deputy majority leader, has filed House Resolution (HR) No. 1534 urging the appropriate House committee to investigate the massive blackout and review the legislative franchise of the China-backed NGCP.

“There is a compelling need for Congress to conduct an investigation with the end in view of revisiting and reviewing the franchise of the NGCP,” Marcos said in his two-page resolution.

The NGCP, the country’s power grid operator, is partly owned by China’s State Grid Corp., which has a 40 percent stake in the agency after winning a 25-year concession to run the country’s power transmission operator with Filipino-owned investors Synergy Grid & Development Phils Inc. (SGPPS) of Henry Sy Jr. and insurance industry tycoon Robert Coyiuto Jr.

The 29-year-old neophyte lawmaker said the inquiry is aimed at ensuring the “timely expansion of the transmission system in line with the development needs of our people and for its effective and efficient operation.”

“The review should include the possible separation and transfer of the systems operation function from the NGCP to another entity which could carry out such function more efficiently,” said President Marcos Jr.’s eldest son.

Marcos said such “streamlining” will enable the NGCP to focus on the construction and operation of the