CEBU CITY – The Visayan Electric Co. has called on its industrial customers to enroll in its Interruptible Load Program (ILP) to cushion the impact of possible power shortages.
ILP is a voluntary, demand-side management program where business customers of a distribution utility with loads of at least one megawatt signs an agreement that they will run their own generator sets and collectively reduce electricity drawn from the grid when power interruptions are imminent to ration limited power supply.
The power utility’s call came as the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has been issuing yellow and red alerts in the Visayas Grid due to supply concerns following the forced outage, derated capacities of several power plants in the grid, as well as the increase in demand because of the extreme heat that the country is experiencing.
Yellow alerts are issued when the power supply operating margin is insufficient to meet the NGCP’s contingency requirement for the grid. Red alerts, on the other hand, are issued when the power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand.
In May 2023, four major industry operators, SM Prime Holdings, Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu, J. King and Sons Co. Inc. (Club Ultima), and Lucky Group Management and Development Corp. (Gaisano Country Mall) in the Visayan Electric franchise area signed up for an ILP partnership.
The strategic partnership boosted the ILP capacity of Visayan Electric to 23 megawatts which lessened the possibility of implementing rotational brownouts among its customers during times when power interruptions are inevitable to ration limited power supply in the grid.
With increasing electricity demand due to high temperatures, the electric utility sees the need to increase its ILP capacity to further ensure lesser duration and frequency of rotating brownouts should there be a power shortage.
“We need to increase our ILP capacity now that there are frequent yellow and red alerts from the NGCP. Temperatures are very high and as much as possible, we want to avoid having to implement manual load dropping or at least lessen the duration and frequency so that our customers will not be inconvenienced,” said Visayan Electric President and Chief Operating Officer Engr. Raul C. Lucero.
Visayan Electric last implemented the ILP in 2015 when there was a power supply concern after a generating plant's emergency shutdown. There were 28 business customers who enrolled with the ILP at that time with a total of 68 megawatts power requirement.
The ILP, Lucero said, has already proven to be a big help in addressing supply concerns affecting the Visayan Electric franchise in the past. Previous ILP activations averted brownouts from affecting hundreds of thousands of Cebu households.
Business customers who are interested to enroll may get in touch with their respective Key Account Managers or get in touch with Visayan Electric through [email protected].