No brownouts despite series of yellow alerts, DOE says

Despite the four consecutive days of thinning power reserves this month, the Luzon grid will not experience brownouts during the summer season, the Department of Energy (DOE) said.

"Wala po tayong nakikitang power interruption base sa supply kahit may yellow alert," Energy Undersecretary and spokesperson Felix William Fuentebella said in a press conference in Taguig City on Thursday.

"Magkakaroon tayo ng sapat na supply ng kuryente," Fuentebella said.

This came after the four successive issuances of yellow alerts for the Luzon grid as power reserves dropped due to the unplanned shutdown of several power plants and the rise of demand amid the dry season.

A yellow alert is raised when reserve power drops below the required level.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines also defines yellow alert as a condition in which the reserves are less than the capacity of the biggest plant online, which is 647 megawatts for Luzon.

The alert, however, does not necessarily mean that power outages will ensue.

But thinning reserves trigger a spike in electricity prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), according to Independent Electricity Market Operator of Philippines (IEMOP) assistant manager Andrea May Caguete.

"Normally kapag bumaba 'yung supply-demand margin natin, tumataas ang prices ng kuryente," Caguete said.

The DOE earlier said that it wants to do away with issuing yellow alerts, saying they are among the reasons for price fluctuations in WESM.

The IEMOP official, however, noted that rising spot prices do not necessarily translate to higher power bills as yellow alerts—which usually last two to three hours a day—can be offset by the total number of hours that power supply is sufficient in a week.

For his part, Manila Electric Power Co. (Meralco) spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said that the power distributor cannot yet determine whether or not yellow alerts will translate to higher household electricity bills.

"Now at this point medyo maaga pa sabihin kung ano 'yung magiging final impact ng presyo for April," Zaldarriaga said.

Meanwhile, Fuentebella said the key to keeping the power situation in check amid thinning supply is to manage the demand side, and urged the public to conserve electricity.

Fuentebella also said that Luzon's power plants are aging and emphasized the need for new plants.

"We are working with the players na talagang they have to perform," he said, noting that power suppliers may face penalties for failing to provide sufficient electricity. — BM, GMA News