Meralco implements brief power cuts as Luzon grid placed on red alert

The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) temporarily cut electricity to over a million customers on Saturday as the Luzon power grid was placed on red alert.

In an advisory, the Department of Energy (DOE) said that at 2:45 p.m., the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Luzon grid under red alert—which means insufficient power supply which could lead to power interruptions—due to "generation deficiency."

The DOE said this triggered the power interruption in the franchise areas of Meralco and other distribution utilities in Luzon.

In a separate advisory, Meralco said it implemented an automatic load dropping (ALD), a safety procedure wherein power is cut off in certain areas due to very low supply, as early as 1:53 p.m.

“This was due to the decrease of an approximate 1,200 megawatts in Meralco's load affecting around 1.6 million customers in portions of Caloocan, Valenzuela, Malabon, Manila, Makati, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, in Metro Manila; as well as parts of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite,” the company said.

Meralco said power was fully restored by 2:11 p.m.

The DOE said that a report by the NGCP stated that the Hermosa-BCCP 230 kilovolt lines 1 and 2 tripped and isolated the Bataan Plants, resulting in ALD at Meralco and NGCP feeders at 1:53 p.m.

The agency added that affected ALD feeders from Meralco and NGCP were restored at 2:11 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively.

“This prompted the DOE to instruct the NGCP to immediately resolve the transmission line issues, submit to the DOE the list of affected customers that experienced power interruption, and explain the details of the incident," the DOE said.

"The DOE has also initiated its coordination with the Energy Regulatory Commission in addressing this matter." —VBL, GMA News