Four technical teams led by the Department of Energy are currently conducting a four-day inspection of existing power facilities in Catanduanes to craft measures to improve the delivery of electricity in the province.
Officials from the DOE, together with representatives from the National Electrification Administration (NEA), the National Power Corporation (NPC), National Transmission Corporation (Transco), and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) arrived last Monday, Oct. 27, 2025.
That same morning, the group paid a courtesy call on the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, particularly the members of the Committee on Energy.
On Tuesday (Oct. 28), after an entry meeting that ended at noon, the first team inspected the distribution assets of the First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative, Inc. (FICELCO) while the second team visited the NPC’s 69kV Sub-Transmission Assets.
This Wednesday (Oct. 29), the first two teams will resume the inspection of their assigned power assets, with the third team focusing on the hydroelectric power plants of Sunwest Water & Electricity Co. (SUWECO) and the fourth team assessing the latter’s diesel power plants.
On Thursday (Oct. 30), concerned officials of the five agencies, FICELCO, SUWECO and the SP Committee on Energy will have an exit meeting with the inspection team and discuss agreements and ways forward.
According to a letter signed by DOE Director IV Luningning Baltazar of the Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, the coordination meeting and inspection of power facilities in Catanduanes is part of the department’s efforts to ensure a stable, reliable, and affordable electricity supply nationwide.
In assessing the condition of existing power facilities by verifying actual site conditions, the team hopes to ensure their compliance with existing regulations and standards and identify both short- and long-term measures for the improvement of electricity service delivery in the Catanduanes grid.
The inspection comes just days after the DOE reportedly informed FICELCO management that the agency has already accepted the cooperative’s revised 2025-2034 Distribution Development Plan (DDP) and Power Supply Procurement Plan (PSPP) after its comments in the checklist were addressed by FICELCO.
The acceptance of the DDP and PSPP is a prelude to the approval of its Competitive Selection Process (CSP) for a new power supplier to provide its projected demand in the next decade.