TEN generation companies have been penalized by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for their involvement in last year’s summer blackouts.
The ERC says that the 10 companies – SN-Aboitiz Power-Benguet Inc; Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corporation; TeaM Sual Corporation; CBK Power Company Limited; SPC Island Power Corporation; Energy Development Corporation; state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM); Soosan ENS Co. Ltd. Philippines; Sem-Calaca Power Corporation; SPC Power Corporation; and Panay Power Corporation – were meted with penalties for breaching the ERC’s prescribed limitations on “forced outages”.
In total, the 10 companies were fined a total of P15.5 million, with penalties for each individual generation company, based on the number of days of unplanned outages that exceeded the reliability indices set by the ERC.
The regulatory body noted that the plant outages logged last year violated provisions of ERC’s Resolution No. 10 series of 2020, which enforces the maximum annual unplanned outages in generating assets.
The limits on allowable forced outages are a mechanism to ensure continued provision of power, as a way of discouraging generation companies from enacting unplanned outages, especially in the summer season where electricity consumption generally trends upwards.
“We have been on the watch for GenCos (generating companies) who are exceeding allowed unplanned outages,” ERC Chairperson Agnes T. Devanadera said.
“We will exercise the punitive powers accorded to ERC by the EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) to ensure that electricity consumers’ interests are promoted and protected in terms of uninterruptible power supply. Non-adherence to our regulatory policies is non-negotiable, ” she stressed.
She also stressed the need for continuous electric coverage as much as possible, citing the increased demands necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the coming national elections.
