Senator JV Ejercito said that after conducting the Senate hearing on power on Thursday, it was obvious that the government apparently did not display efforts to avert the continued rise in the price of electricity in the country.
“One glaring point that we were able to establish during the hearing on Thursday is that there was no apparent effort on the government’s end to step in to avert such spike on the price of power,” Sen. Ejercito said.
Sen. Ejercito said the senators learned during the same hearing that the government opportunity to intervene failed.
“This is when its state-owned power plant, Malaya, did in fact offer to bid but it was an empty offer nonetheless since it is not connected to the grid operated by National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP),” the senator from San Juan pointed out.
He added that during these times, it is important that all sectors in the industry must get their acts together for the benefit of the public.
“An efficient mechanism should be in place to prevent such incidents. These findings are imperative in determining what amendments should we introduce in EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) law or what modifications should be made in the WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market) rules,” Sen. Ejercito said. (END)
