Anyare? -- a Filipino colloquial term, which is a shortened version of “Anong nangyari?” (What happened?). The term is commonly used to express frustration or disappointment over something that goes unresolved or has been left wanting or hanging.

This term has lingered on our minds even after the two Senate Committee investigations on the energy crisis that left us with even more questions than answers. Anyare?!

Before the Red Alert issues came into the forefront of national consciousness, Kuryente.org had already warned the public of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP)’s non-compliance of its mandate to secure ancillary reserves and its subsequent effect on energy supply.

Based on its 50-year franchise agreement, NGCP is mandated to contract reserves to back up energy supply in the event of power outages due to unscheduled plant maintenance or shut down. We have since called the attention, and demanded transparency and accountability from the NGCP, and for the regulating agencies, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the legislative to conduct an inquiry into this perennial problem (See: Yellow Alert: a case of ‘Groundhog day’? article).

Ultimately, the Yellow Alert did escalate to Red Alert and had caused massive brownouts in areas covered by the Luzon grid. Anyare?!

We, at Kuryente.org, are not discounting the reforms that came out of the Senate probe. For one, the NGCP has conceded on contracting 100% firm ancillary reserves, which could mitigate the threat of outages and brownouts.

It is worth noting, however, that the investigation has revealed massive spending by the NGCP on advertising, public relations and representation. In 2017-2018 alone, NCGP had collectively spent over a billion pesos (a total of PHP 1.12-Billion) on these instead of utilizing funds to upgrade the integrity of the grid.

While it was clear as day that NGCP has miserably failed on its mandate to secure the grid by contracting ancillary reserves, and that the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is the sanctioning authority, why has no one been sanctioned yet? Anyare?!

“Kung hindi sumusunod ang NGCP, ERC has the power to impose penalties. If ERC does not penalize, NGCP would not comply. Problems will arise. That is what we’re seeing now,” said Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, during Kuryente.org’s first virtual Kapihan last June 16.

Gatchalian further emphasized that while the current ERC administration has initiated a lot of reforms in the agency, it has to impose stricter regulation of the NGCP, especially on its persistent non-compliance to its mandate of securing steady energy supply.

“Ang prangkisa ay hindi karapatan ng NGCP, ito ay isang pribilehiyo na ibinigay ng Kongreso sa ngalan ng taong bayan. Hindi nila ito dapat abusuhin,” he added.

We, at Kuryente.org, commend the NGCP for finally committing to sign firm ancillary services contracts that have long been pending. Likewise, we laud the Senate Committee of Energy, led by its chair, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian for its continued probe and swift directive to resolve the perennial energy issues. After the second Senate inquiry, Senator Gatchalian ordered the Department of Energy to convene a task force to address the imminent brownouts, which are expected to last until August.

Let us not forget that the hearings did not result in clarity why Generation Companies or those who are operating power plants mysteriously do simultaneous shutdown maintenance?

We support this initiative, but recommend that the task force should have clear, transparent and specific mandates and objectives that consumer groups and the general public can monitor and participate in.

Moreover, as the investigation on this issue persists, we urge the legislative to also look into the proposed amendments to the Competitive Selection Process (CSP), which pushes for Unsolicited Proposal.

Unsolicited Proposal supersedes the existing bidding process and is geared to favor the tailor-fit proposal of a single energy supplier. Unsolicited Proposal will only further hamper the entry and participation of more energy players to solve the energy crisis. Unsolicited Proposal goes against the provisions of the EPIRA Law, which encourages fair competition among distribution utilities.

Competition is vital in the energy sector in order to keep costs low, service delivery efficient, and prevent monopolization. Historically, the CSP has sufficiently fulfilled its mandate to keep energy costs competitive, while encouraging the participation of companies to bid for energy distribution. We believe that the impending issue of Unsolicited Proposal is directly related to the energy crisis that Filipinos are already experiencing, and, should it be approved, would only worsen the situation.

CSP should be followed through all the way and should not be bastardized by accommodating “under-the-table” deals, such as the Unsolicited Proposal.