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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Meralco promises 'ample' power supply

Meralco promises 'ample' power supply

Published Jun 9, 2021 05:08 pm

The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) on Wednesday, June 9, assured that it has adequate power supply to meet the demand of its customers despite the recent rotating brownouts due to power plant outages.

(MANILA BULLETIN File Photo)

Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said that the giant power utility has secured "ample" power supply from its contractors to cover its franchise area, as well as ensure the continuous provision of electricity, especially in vaccination centers.

"We are amply covered in so far as our suppy requirement is concerned, particualrly 'yong bilateral contracts namin (with our bilateral contracts). We make sure that as far as the Meralco demand is concerned, meron kaming pagkukunan (we have the power source) and the flexibility also in terms of what we need, particularly during peak periods," Zaldarriaga said during the online Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.

The Meralco official explained that the rotating brownouts in several areas last week were caused by issues in the Luzon power grid, which the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NCGP) had attributed to the thinning power supply.

"Nagkataon ang po nitong nagdaang linggo, noong Lunes at Martes, kung saan nagkaroon ng rotating brownouts at yong grid na po ang nagkaroon ng problema (It just happened that last week, last Monday and Tuesday when we experienced rotating brownout, the grid encountered a problem)," he said.

As for concerns on the effects of the power interruptions on cold storage facilities of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination sites, Zaldarriaga said the Meralco is still waiting for the Department of Energy's (DOE) approval of its procurement of 220 to 260 megawatts of power capacity to augment its supply and maintain electricity in these establishments.

He said they are currently monitoring a total of 429 vaccination centers and storage facilities. They have also installed back up supply in these vaccination centers and storage facilities, he added

In the same forum, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian thanked the Meralco for "taking a pro-active step" to support vaccination centers and spare them from the brownouts.

He, however, underscored the need to prevent brownouts from happening again, not just in vaccination centers.

"The best is just to avoid brownouts altogether. It's not wise to push the distributor to isolate the areas...because it would be difficult, considering the size of Metro Manila," said the senator, who chairs the Senate energy committee.

The Senate Committee on Energy will hold on Thursday, June 10, a hearing to address shortage in the power supply, and other issues, particularly the "finger-pointing" between regulators and power companies, and the lack of enforcement of government policies, Gatchalian said.

Related Tags

Power supply Meralco BROWNOUTS Power interruption Sherwin Gatchalian
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