ERC works with DOE, NGCP to restore Panay power

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is working with the Department of Energy and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines to restore electricity in Panay Island following a massive power outage on January 2.

Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta assured consumers that efforts are being made to quickly restore power, acknowledging the inconvenience caused by the outage and expecting normal supply to return by Friday afternoon.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 198.1 MW of electricity were available from local plants and an additional 50.9 MW was provided from other sources in the Visayas region.

NGCP identified unscheduled maintenance shutdowns at the largest power plants as the primary cause of the outage, along with planned maintenance and deration of other plants outside DOE's approved program.

The ERC is investigating two possible causes: damage to a plant or disturbance on the grid, with Dimalanta stating that affected power plants in Iloilo are now operational again.

The ERC emphasized the need for better planning to ensure adequate generation capacity per island with a balanced mix of fuels and technology.