President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Friday said the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) failed to maintain stability of the grid stability in the Panay Island, which suffered power disruptions.

In a video message, Marcos said NGCP was not able to initiate the needed manual load dropping to prevent power disruptions in Panay Island last Tuesday.

"NGCP’s failure to act during the crucial two-hour window is a missed opportunity. As the systems operator, NGCP must proactively engage with distribution utilities and cooperatives to manage loads and prevent such system collapses," Marcos said.

He noted the incident affected businesses and endangered the lives of those who need healthcare in Panay Island before power in area was restored this week.

Last April, a similar incident occurred in Panay Island, which resulted to a review of NGCP's performance.

NGCP said the issue will be addressed when the Panay-Negros-Cebu interconnection will be finished. It was supposed to be operational in August 2023.

"However, we find ourselves in January 2024, far from the promised completion date of August 2023, and we are still, still hoping for the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection by late January of 2024," Marcos said.

"Accountability lies with the NGCP. They are tasked with grid stability. Stability involves proactive responses to breakdowns and unexpected events, a duty that NGCP unfortunately has not fulfilled adequately," he added.

The President directed the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to complete the pending reset of NGCP's rates, which is expected to result in lower transmission charges to consumers. DMS