ERC now requiring real-time reporting of power outages

by Lenie Lectura, 26 April 2015
from BusinessMirror

POWER-generation companies are being required by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)  to report incidents of outage of their power facilities in “real time.”

In a resolution signed on March 9 but publicly released only last week, the ERC said generation companies (gencos) must provide real-time accurate information on the operations of their generation facilities, specifically timely notification to the ERC of unplanned or planned power-outage events.

“In view of the projected imbalance in the Luzon grid, the ERC is cognizant of the need to monitor the reliability performance of the generation facilities of generation companies not only on annual basis but close to real time,” stated ERC Resolution  04, Series of 2015.

The reporting shall be done through the use of, among others, short message service (SMS) , electronic-email and facsimile machine.

On unplanned outage or sudden shutdown of a power plant, the gencos shall send through SMS the following details: type of unplanned outage, name of generation facility, total outage, date and time of occurrence, reason for outage and surname of person reporting.

Within 48 hours from occurrence of the same outage event, the genco shall submit a report through e-mail or facsimile. Subsequently, within three hours from the resumption of operations of generating facility, the same shall be reported to the ERC through SMS.

Likewise, a report in writing, signed by the duly authorized representative of the genco shall also be submitted via e-mail and facsimile within 48 hours from resumption of operations.

On planned outage, the ERC should be informed of such events at least 10 days prior to the implementation of the said event. A report, similar to the planned outage, must be submitted to the agency.

Within 48 hours from resumption of operations of the power facility, the genco shall submit a report signed by a duly authorized representative stating the actual time and date of the resumption and total outage hours, among others.

Under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act,  the ERC may require reports from electric power industry participants as necessary to facilitate compliance pursuant to Section 4, Rule 3 of the law.