ICYMI: The National Electrification Administration joined the Public Hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy on Wednesday, 14 September 2022.
Among the issues discussed were the power supply problem in Palawan and Occidental Mindoro.
NEA Administrator Emmanuel P. Juaneza informed the Energy Committee that the agency together with the DOE, ERC and the Occidental Mindoro LGU had formulated immediate actions to resolve the rotational brownout in the province.
“Nagmeeting na po kami two days ago and meron na kaming actions na immediate, medium tsaka long-term tapos, in fact, ‘yung dalawang engineers ng NEA, dinispatch namin, nasa Occidental Mindoro na to validate sa status ng planta na kine-claim ng OMCPC na kapos na raw sila, ‘yun ‘yung sa MAPSA. Tapos yung sa Sablayan, nire-report din na tapos na rin pero two days ago, nakarating sa amin na nasa 50 to 60% pa lang na natatapos,” the Administrator said.
On the brownout problem in Palawan, PALECO or Palawan Electric Cooperative apprised the Energy Committee of the actions implemented by the distribution utility to reduce the number of power disturbances in the province.
“Amin pong ikinakasa ang aming CAPEX Plan from 2022 to 2026, kung saan nakatutok po ito sa pag-iinstall ng mga substation para mapaiksi po namin ‘yung mga feeder namin para tumaas po iyong reliability ng aming system and then isa rin po sa mga project namin iyon pong pag-iinstall ng insulated conductors para po tumaas ang reliability ng sistema na kahit ito po ay ma-touch ng vegetation, wala pong disturbance sa ating sistema,” PALECO Engr. RG Baylon, Jr. told the committee.
During the hearing, the non-payment of subsidies to the power producers of PALECO and OMECO or Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative, Inc. was also tackled.
National Power Corporation (NPC) Officer-In-Charge Melchor Ridulme addressed the issue of the unsettled Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UCME) subsidies.