NGCP says no more brownouts in next few days

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Wednesday said there are no indications that rotational power outages can be expected in the next few days following the placing of the Luzon Grid under Red Alert, which triggered rotating power interruptions.

During the Senate Committee on Energy hearing, NGCP president and CEO Anthony Almeda said the Luzon grid is currently “running normal.”

Energy panel chairman Senator Raffy Tulfo then asked if the consuming public can expect outages in the next few days.

“So everything is under control? Hindi po tayo magkakaroon ng mga [we won't be having] brownouts in the next few days? In the next weeks?” Tulfo asked.

In response, Almeda said, “No, senator,” adding that the Red Alert status experienced on September 12 “are normal disturbances.”

“The whole energy family are in discussion to work together to ensure that we have enough supply of our kuryente [electricity] po, these are normal po, we make sure that everything is okay,” the NGCP chief said.

On Monday, the Luzon power grid was placed under Red Alert from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., after an additional 300 megawatts were lost following reports of power plants experiencing issues. 

Manual load dropping or rotational power outages were implemented in several areas to maintain the integrity of the power system.

For his part, Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan said the agency is monitoring the power situation on a daily basis, and that if untoward incidents happen, the DOE coordinates with stakeholders involved on the spot to immediately address the issues. —KBK, GMA News