NGCP insists: China can鈥檛 trigger a blackout in PH
NGCP compound along Araneta Ave. Quezon City.
INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has reiterated that China cannot trigger a blackout in the Philippines, with officials saying again that there is no single switch that can turn the entire grid off.
During the hearing of the House of Representatives’ committee on legislative franchises, NGCP chief technical officer Rico Vega told lawmakers that “there is no push button anywhere that can black out the whole grid in the Philippines.”
Over the past hearings, discussions and concerns were raised about the possibility that China, through Chinese nationals and companies affiliated with the NGCP, can just turn the country’s power grid off, especially in the event of higher tensions and conflict.
But according to Vega, NGCP has a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which is a secure, stand-alone system that would make it impossible to be hacked remotely or from outside the NGCP facility.
Philreca party-list Rep. Presley de Jesus and Synergy Grid and Development Philippines, Inc.’s Paul Sagayo echoed Vega’s statements.
Article continues after this advertisement“Hindi madali magpatay o mag-shut off ng kuryente,” de Jesus said.
Article continues after this advertisement(It is not easy to shut off the electricity.)
“China being able to put off the whole grid, that’s fake news,” Sagayo said.
Vega also stressed that key government agencies like the Energy Regulatory Commission, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, and the National Security Council also do third-party audits to ensure the security of the power grid.
In February 2020, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. admitted that there may be security threats to the country’s power grid, but he also assured the public that certain measures would deter such issues.
READ: PH’s power grid hounded by security threats, countermeasures on – Esperon
In May 2023, during the House committee on transportation’s hearing on the power issues that affected the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) during the 2023 New Year celebrations, Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez raised the possibility of China’s involvement in the outage.
Fernandez then pointed to NGCP, saying that Chinese individuals were managing the grid.
READ: Solon claims China may have a hand in Naia power outages
The NGCP denied Fernandez’ accusations, insisting that their system cannot be controlled remotely.
Furthermore, the NGCP maintained that they are a Filipino corporation, and that they remain committed to providing electricity to the country.
READ: NGCP denies being behind Naia’s major power outages
Issues were brought up again during the House committee on legislative franchises’ hearing, but NGCP insisted anew that they are a Filipino company.
Last January 15, NGCP Assistant Vice President for System Operations Clark Agustin allayed concerns raised by lawmakers about the corporation using Chinese-made equipment, noting that China is a technical partner allowed by the government.
On Thursday, Henry Sy Jr., vice chairperson of the NGCP, assured lawmakers that the corporation is run by Filipinos.
In a statement read by NGCP President Anthony Almeda, Sy stated that they purchased the transmission business in good faith and through open public bidding.
READ: Solons assured: NGCP run by Filipinos, compliant with Constitution
Rate reset
The rate reset of NGCP was also a hot topic during the hearings, with lawmakers like Fernandez questioning the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on why some items — like incomplete projects — were included in the computation.
A rate reset means regulated entities like NGCP must submit their spending, proposed projects, and earnings over a specific period, allowing the ERC to determine how much of it can be passed on to consumers through their electric bills.
ERC admitted its failure to conduct a timely regulatory reset, which did not give NGCP the new rates.
“The last rate reset was for the third regulatory period covering 2011 to 2015. It was completed in 2010 and was implemented in 2011,” ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said in Filipino.
Almeda, meanwhile, called for a holistic plan which would allow stakeholders to fix issues.
“Maybe all the energy family should discuss and talk. Kami (we) as the 3 percent, as the highway, we will be here. The most important thing is we can do energy planning as a whole, from transmission, generation, and distribution, on where to put our plants … so that it would also be more viable and consistent on the timelines,” he said.
