Philippines: National Transmission Corp. wants bigger role in energy planning

Philippines: National Transmission Corp. wants bigger role in energy
planning

STATE-RUN National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) wants to have an active role
in writing the country's transmission development plan in a move that is
expected to expand its role in preparing the broader and long-term
Philippine Energy Plan, its president said.

A lighted map of Philippines' electricity system is seen at the National
Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) headquarters in this 2013 file
photo taken in Quezon City. -- BW FILE PHOTO
Melvin A. Matibag, TransCo president and chief executive officer, said he
would be asking Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi for a department order that
would include his office in the planning stage of the transmission plan.

"I will be asking the secretary if he can issue a department order so that
we will be included," he said in a recent interview.

"We want to be included in the planning stage, in the preparation," he said,
adding that in the past this was a role handled largely by privately owned
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), which holds the
congressional franchise to operate and maintain the country's power grid.

The transmission plan has become crucial in view of a government directive
to hasten the interconnection of the Mindanao electricity to the Luzon and
Visayas grids. NGCP earlier this month said it was targeting the link to
happen by end-2020 and possibly cost around P52 billion.

He said the department order he was seeking should give TransCo the power to
recommend the plan before this is submitted for approval to the Department
of Energy (DoE), which in turn endorses the document to the Energy
Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the Grid Management Committee, Inc. (GMC).

Mr. Matibag said the transmission development plan (TDP) previously
completed by NGCP was for DoE approval, but a number of changes were
expected after a "composite team" was created to re-assess it. He said DoE
Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella represents the department in
that team.

Mr. Fuentebella confirmed the changes, which he said should "fast-track" the
TDP process. He said with the new tack, representatives from agencies and
energy stakeholders with approval powers will sit down to draft the
document.

Unlike before, the new process will include ERC and GMC in the initial
discussions. GMC was created by the ERC as mandated under Republic Act No.
9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001, to ensure
that all users of the grid are represented in reviewing and making
recommendations on connection, operation, maintenance and development of the
grid.

"We have to check on (the Mindanao interconnection plan)," Mr. Matibag said.
"It's good that it will be interconnected ... the amount of it is another
issue."

He said TransCo's role is important in the plan because it would be the
agency's look out after the concession agreement expires and the
transmission assets and obligations are turned over to the government.

"We're talking about it. Of course, they (NGCP) have their interest to
protect. I also have my mandate to protect the consumers and the government,
so we'll just do that," he said.

"I also want the side of the generation companies and the distribution
utilities to be included in the preparation," he added.

Separately, Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate energy
committee, called out NGCP and ERC for their "inaction" in addressing
unnecessary delays in approving applications to build new power plants.

He also pointed out the delay in clearing the entry of prospective
participants in the renewable energy (RE) sector.

"There is a problem with the approval process and NGCP has to solve it. How
can we lure investors and promote RE and other sources of power to come in
when there are unnecessary delays in the approval process?" he said.

On Thursday, the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC), the
legislative panel that oversees the implementation of EPIRA, held its first
meeting since 2014. It tackled, among others, the slow permitting and
approval process.

"I want you to take a look into this issue," Mr. Gatchalian told ERC
Chairman Jose Vicente B. Salazar. "You are not exercising your powers and
authority. You have to be more aggressive."

He ordered Mr. Salazar to submit to the JCPC a course of action, including
possible sanctions, in relation to the extended time it had taken NGCP to
conduct a grid impact study, which is required for power developers to
proceed with the construction of their projects.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Economy&title=national-trans
mission-corp.-wants-bigger-role-in-energy-planning-&id=140897

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com