ERC begins audit of NGCP facilities

BY LENIE LECTURA – JUNE 22, 2021
from Business Mirror

THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it started the virtual inspection of the transmission facilities of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) last June 10.

“The ongoing inspections will cover NGCP’s Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao transmission facilities and the activities that will be undertaken are threefold: document verification of relevant documents on site; ocular inspections of the various systems, assets, and procedures; and probing questions or discussions with the concerned NGCP staff,” ERC Chairperson and CEO Agnes VST Devanadera said in a statement Tuesday.

The inspections are part of the compliance review being undertaken by the ERC’s technical staff together with its appointed consultant, Navarro, Amper & Co. The inspections will determine NGCP’s compliance with the governing rules and regulations; sufficiency of the infrastructure used by the system operator in carrying out its functions and responsibilities; accuracy, reliability, and availability of data or information gathered from power plants, substations, and other power utilities; and capacitate the ERC personnel on compliance review.

“We wish to underscore the fact that the ERC’s engagement of a technical consultant for the conduct of NGCP’s compliance review shall be financed from the ERC’s budget allocation and that the same was done in accordance with the Government Procurement Reform Act”, Devanadera added.

NGCP is owned by a consortium led by Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. of Henry Sy, Jr., Calaca High Power Corp. of Robert Coyiuto, Jr., and the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), which holds a 40-percent interest.

The NGCP earlier said that it “has never resisted any audit,” and it just wants that it be done in accordance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, as well as the provisions of its concession agreement and franchise.

It said it would only accept an audit by the ERC because it is the only government audit prescribed by law.