Our grid has a China problem

Suppose you wake up to a war with China. Lights out, phone dying, hospitals running on generators. Nobody knows when the power is coming back.

What can be nastier? Well, China’s government, through its state-owned power company, owns 40 percent of NGCP, the private company that operates our national electricity transmission highway. Those gigantic steel towers you see along the expressways? Yup, those things.

Think of the grid as the country’s spine. You can build a hundred power plants; but if the wires can’t carry the electricity? Boom!

Security experts have warned of possible sabotage during a conflict. NGCP says Filipino engineers run the system. Nobody has proven China has a secret kill switch.

“BTW, only 40 percent! Filipinos own the other 60!”

Wonderful! Sixty percent! So if we go to war, we hold a shareholders meeting? We vote 60-40: 60, lights on; 40, lights off?

How did we get here? Epira. Sounds like a disease. Venereal. Law was passed in 2001.

The government decided to let private businessmen operate the power grid. It still owns the transmission towers, the wires, but the businessmen operate and maintain them under a concession. The bidding was held in 2007.

San Miguel’s group offered $3.905 billion. Another group, along with China’s state-owned power company, offered $3.95B.

Forty-five million dollars more! Just over one percent! After both groups had qualified!

But the group with China won. Not some Chinese billionaire. Not a private Chinese company. A company owned by the Chinese government itself!

We wanted private companies running our electricity grid. So, naturally, we ended up with another government owning part of the operator.

China’s!

San Miguel isn’t exactly everybody’s favorite company. We have our complaints. Lots of them. But at least when you fight with San Miguel, you don’t have to call in the Navy.

And, to be fair, San Miguel’s bidding group had foreign partners too.

Because here’s what we don’t understand.

We have the Coast Guard keeping China at bay in our waters. But we have a business deal that brought China’s government into the company that operates our power grid?

Who looked at China and said, what could possibly go wrong? Who? Bring him here. We just want to shake his hand.

“So, mister, you checked their money. You checked their tech qualifications. Did anybody check what could happen if our two countries went to war?”

NGCP says Filipino engineers operate the grid. They say they don’t need Chinese engineers in the control rooms.

Very reassuring. So why is the Chinese government still our business partner?

“They own shares, sir!”

We know they own shares! Can’t we buy them out?

The Bongbong government has been working on a deal to invest in a Filipino holding company behind NGCP. Not China’s shares. The Filipino side.

Now, has anybody asked China’s State Grid if it wants to sell?

“Hello, Beijing. How much for your 40 percent?”

Maybe it won’t sell; perhaps the price is ridiculous. But suppose China agrees. Problem solved?

American researchers have warned that some security risks could remain even after a buyout.

The Constitution allows the government, under the law, to temporarily take over certain public utilities during a national emergency.

Fine. We take over, assuming legal requirements are met. Can we run everything ourselves?

NGCP says Filipino engineers already operate the grid. Wonderful. Now can we repair and restore the whole system during a major crisis without Chinese tech assistance?

We’d love to hear the answer. Preferably before the next blackout.

And speaking of blackouts.

Remember Panay? January 2024. Three days without power. Power plants failed. NGCP’s handling of the crisis came under fire.

Luzon, May 2026. Major transmission lines tripped. A congressional resolution said some 3.9 million customers were affected. Causes and responsibilities were disputed.

No war, or invasion, not even an ultra hypersonic Chinese submarine.

And NGCP has been penalized by regulators for unjustified delays in transmission projects. Beautiful record.

We’re worried China might shut down our grid during a war. Can somebody explain why we’ve had such serious grid failures during peace?