By Alena Mae S. Flores | Posted on July 21, 2012 | 12:01am
The Energy Department has come out with a draft circular creating the Grid Reliability Task Force and providing penalties against power generation companies that violate the directive.
The body will monitor and assess the overall reliability of the country’s power grid and make studies and policy recommendations.
An earlier circular directed power generation companies, the transmission service provider and distribution utilities to ensure adequate and reliable electric power supply in the country.
The task force will also complement the functions of the Grid Reliability and Protection Sub-Committee in maintaining and enhancing the reliability of the generation, transmission and distribution sectors of the grid.
The task force is composed of the energy undersecretary as chairman, National Transmission Corp. president as vice chairman, Philippine Electricity Market Corp. and National Grid Corp. representatives and other concerned parties.
The tasked force will conduct outage investigations such as plant and substation inspections to determine the cause of unscheduled and persistent outages.
It will also submit to the department for the Energy Regulatory Commission’s consideration proposed fines, penalties and sanctions for non-compliance to the circular.
The task force will create its own compliance manual for market players and protocol in the conduct of inspection duly approved by department.
“In the event the penalties imposed do not ensure compliance such as when persistent violations lead to more profit despite the payment of fines, [the task force will] recommend” actions, including the cancellation of franchise and removal of personnel.
The task force will recommend policies on hydro and geothermal plants due to their “criticality.” source
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