Meralco: Power plant problems cause 3-hour brownouts

Three-hour brownouts hit areas in Metro Manila serviced by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) Saturday, with the utility firm blaming the outage of some power plants for the situation. In posts on its Twitter account, Meralco said an emergency power interruption occurred at 12:18 a.m. due to a power supply deficiency after the Sual 1 power plant tripped. “Based on our records it is due to power deficiency that occurred when Sual 1 power plant tripped out. All affected circuits of Meralco were restored at 0032h (12:32 a.m.),” it said. Meralco services Metro Manila and some areas of nearby provinces in Central and Southern Luzon. Later Saturday morning, Meralco tweeted there would be “tentative” three-hour brownouts from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., this time due to power plant problems. It cited the outage of the Calaca 1 and Sual 1 and 2 plants, and a limitation of supply in Ilijan, Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo power plants. “The schedule will be between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. for 3 hours,” it said. Asked by netizens for a timetable on when power can be restored, it said there is no estimated time of restoration. “Walang estimated time of restoration. Magtatagal ng 3 hours ang power interruption from the time na nawalan ng kuryente," it said. — LBG, GMA News