DOE to hold power players accountable during forced outages

By Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star) | Updated February 2, 2018 - 12:00am

http://www.philstar.com/business/2018/02/02/1783625/doe-hold-power-players-accountable-during-forced-outages

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) is targeting to implement a causer’s pay policy by mid-2018 to hold power industry players accountable during power interruptions instead of letting consumers shoulder higher electricity costs.

The agency is drafting a circular to issue a causer’s pay policy program on charging incremental electricity cost to the generator that goes on forced outage, DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said.

“We have a draft ready for public consultations, but we are targeting to have it signed by June,” he said.

The public consultations will allow the DOE to straighten out and clarify the rules for implementation, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.

The proposed causer’s pay policy aims to make generation, transmission and distribution companies accountable for causing unwarranted power interruptions instead of passing on the cost to consumers.

Under the proposed policy, the DOE will investigate the technical aspect of the forced outage and identify whether it was triggered or intentional, crime-related, or a result of gross negligence, among others.

Depending on the cause, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will impose the necessary monetary penalty on the erring power player.

But if the power interruption is proven to be caused by force majeure, power players will not be held accountable.

Earlier this year, the DOE said it is looking at options to unburden consumers from shouldering higher fuel costs when the Malampaya gas facility schedules its maintenance shutdown in the future.

The DOE chief has stressed the importance of maximizing consumer protection from the impact of maintenance or unplanned shutdowns as a policy direction of the agency.