Marcos orders DOE to address power situation

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday ordered the Department of Energy to address the energy situation in the country following the red alert declaration of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

"In light of the recent Red and Yellow Alerts in the Luzon Grid, I have instructed the Department of Energy to closely monitor and coordinate with all stakeholders to address the situation," Marcos said in a post on on X (formerly Twitter).

In light of the recent Red and Yellow Alerts in the Luzon Grid, I have instructed the Department of Energy to closely monitor and coordinate with all stakeholders to address the situation.

I have also directed all government offices to set the standard in conserving energy and…

— Bongbong Marcos (@bongbongmarcos) April 16, 2024

The President also directed all government offices "to set the standard in conserving energy and minimizing power consumption."

"At this time, it is crucial that we all work together to ensure a stable power supply for the next couple of days. Let's adopt energy-efficient practices and stand together to overcome this challenge," he added.

NGCP said the grid is currently under red alert after nearly 20 power plants were on forced outages, which led to power interruptions in some areas.

A red alert status indicates that the power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement.

Meralco, meanwhile, has announced that it may implement one-hour manual load dropping (MLD) or rotating power interruptions between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. in its franchise area following NGCP's declaration of red alert in the Luzon grid.—LDF, GMA Integrated News