ERC ‘ginoyo’ sa manipulasyon ng power utility

BINUWELTAHAN ng bagong distribution utility na More Electric and Power Corp., (More Power) ang Panay Electric Company (PECO) at inakusahan ng pagmamanipula ng mga numero sa insidente ng naranasang power outrages sa Iloilo City para palabasin sa Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) na nagkukulang at hindi karapat-dapat bilang power supplier ng Iloilo City.

Ayon sa More Power malinaw na paninira at pagpapakita ng pagiging desperado ang ginagawa ng PECO na nagsabing sa pagitan ng 29 Pebrero hanggang 16 Hulyo 2020 ay umabot sa 412.20 oras ang naranasang brownout sa Iloilo City.

Sa tala, 182.13 oras power interruption ang naranasan ng mga taga-Iloilo.

Giit ng kompanya higit sa kalahati ng power interruption ay pawang nakaiskedyul at may abiso sa maaapektohang consumers bilang pagbibigay daan sa gagawing pagkukumpuni.

“Scheduled outages contributed a large portion of the duration of the power interruptions. These scheduled outages were necessary because of the need for urgent maintenance works on various aspects of the dilapidated distribution system that MORE took over from PECO,” ayon sa More Power.

Buwelta ng More Power, hindi sila papayag sa nakapagdududang eskema ng PECO na dinagdagan ng 230 oras ang haba ng brownout.

Pawang kasinungalingan umano ito at naglalayong siraan sila sa ERC at sa mata ng Iloilo consumers.

Ang nasabing mga numero ang ginamit ng PECO na dahilan sa ERC para ipanawagan na ibalik sa kanila ang Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) upang sila muli ang makapag-operate ng power supply sa Iloilo City bagamat nauna itong tinanggalan ng operational permit, business permit mula sa Iloilo City at legislative franchise.

“PECO manipulated the MORE numbers to artificially inflate the figures. PECO not only double counted, it counted one brownout period 16 times. PECO also counted a longer period than the actual period of brownout. PECO deliberately lied to the ERC because it engaged in ‘multiple counting’ which is not in accordance with the mandated method of recording interruptions under ERC Resolution No. 12, Series of 2008 (A Resolution Adopting the Guidelines for the Monitoring of Reliability Standards for Distribution Utilities),” ayon kay More Power Spokesperson Jonathan Cabrera.

Inilinaw ni Cabrera na hindi lahat ng naranasang power interruption ay galing sa More Power bagkus may mga unscheduled outages na nangyayari resulta ng problema sa linya ng National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) o sa ibang generator, force majeure, at mula sa depektibong equipment ng PECO na minana ng More Power gaya ng primary wire down, neutral wire down, sagging primary, at  neutral wires; broken cross-arms; busted fuse; damaged pin insulators, at iba pa.

“All these defective equipment resulted to about 51.57 hours of interruptions. As we stated before, these defective equipment are all part of the distribution system that MORE took over from PECO and are attributable to the poor or non-existent maintenance of PECO while it was operating the said distribution system,” paliwanag ni Cabrera.

Tinawag din ni Cabrera na mali at kasinungalingan ang pahayag ng PECO na regular ang ginagawa nilang Preventive Maintenance Services (PMS) sa kanilang limang substations sa Iloilo City, ani Cabrera sa April 2020 laboratory gas analysis test na ginawa sa mga substation ng PECO, lumabas na may mataas at mapanganib na level ng carbon monoxide sa main insulating oil tanks at may 80 hanggang 90% overloading capacity sa mga substation na hindi angkop sa itinatakda ng ERC dahil maaari itong pagmulan ng sunog.

Sinabi ni Cabrera, 70% loading capacity lamang ang kaya ng mga substation ng PECO at hindi kaya ang demand ng consumers dahil ang huling upgrade ng kanilang mga transformer ay noon pang 2011.

“Despite its supposed 95 years of experience in operating the distribution system, PECO did not prepare or initiate any substation capacity additions. The last CAPEX application filed by PECO was way back in 2011. This again shows that PECO did not undertake any major CAPEX programs for the improvement of the distribution system in Iloilo City in violation of the rules and regulations of the ERC and in violation of its mandate to be a good and prudent operator of the said distribution system,” pagtatapos ni Cabrera.