Power firms told to align emergency measures to existing protocols

MANILA, Philippines – Power industry stakeholders should align their emergency response protocol to existing disaster risk reduction measures as the Department of Energy (DOE) updates its standard operating procedures (SOP) in times of calamities, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said yesterday.

The DOE chief said “all industry participants must be attuned to the existing nationwide disaster-response system of the energy sector.”

He said protocols have long been implemented to address and respond to calamities and disasters that take their toll on vital energy infrastructures.

These protocols strictly follow the measures set forth by the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 as implemented by the National Disaster Risk-Reduction and Management Council.

But with the changing times, the agency is working to upgrade the best practices in disaster risk reduction and mitigation, Cusi said.

“The DOE continues to update its system of protocols, advance notifications and quick-response strategies to fit the country’s current requirements,” he said.

The energy chief said he included climate change resilience in the agenda of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue, which will be sponsored by the Philippines in August.

“The DOE will make sure that the Philippines is prepared to showcase its own workable and effective energy model before the Asian community,” Cusi said.

Currently, the agency is conducting a series of disaster response protocol workshops with energy stakeholders to discuss energy resiliency and how to mitigate the ill effects of climate change.

Government agencies and private companies specifically outlined the strategies and methods they are observing during and after calamities, including the recommendations on how to improve the efficiency of all distribution utilities.

This is part of the DOE’s periodical review on the implemented and established system of rules “to effect the correct and appropriate conduct and procedures to be followed by the industry stakeholders,” DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said.

Meanwhile, Cusi said the DOE is proactively advocating energy resiliency in the face of the frequent and disastrous occurrences of natural and human-induced calamities in the country.

 “The DOE has been regularly convening the industry partners to mainstream climate change adaptation in connection with DRRM (disaster risk reduction and management) strategies in the sector. This is to reduce the vulnerability of vital energy systems to the destructive effects of calamities,” he said.