National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said Wednesday customers in Pampanga may face transmission service reliability issues after the local government unit of San Simon ordered the closure of the San Simon 230-kiloVolt substation construction site.
“Without this substation, the reliability of transmission services in the Pampanga area is threatened, and power interruptions are a real possibility,” NGCP said.
The closure order dated Sept. 9 and signed by Mayor Abundio Punsalan Jr. alleged that the construction of the substation was being undertaken without the necessary permits required by the local government of San Simon.
NGCP responded by presenting to the LGU a copy of the building permit it issued for the project on June 1, 2021 before the project implementation.
“To date, the closure order remains in effect, necessitating the stoppage of critical construction activities,” NGCP said.
The Department of Energy in 2019 certified San Simon 230-kV Substation Project as an energy project of national significance.
The project aims to reinforce the reliability and stability of power transmission services in the Luzon grid by serving as an alternate source for customers connected to the existing Mexico substation.
“We are appealing to the local officials of San Simon led by Mayor Punsalan, to lift the closure order and allow NGCP to continue with this grid improvement initiative. We share the common goal of delivering efficient and reliable services to the Filipino people,” the company said.
NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining and developing the country’s power grid. It is led by majority shareholders and vice chairman of the board Henry Sy Jr. and co-vice chairman Robert Coyiuto Jr. It is the sole operating asset of Synergy Grid and Development Philippines Inc.