6-8 hour blackouts plague Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Blackouts lasting up to eight hours have been hitting many parts of Mindanao for the past weeks, imperiling the conduct of elections in an area with 12.5 million voters.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) admitted that Mindanao residents may suffer longer power interruptions this year due to delayed repairs of electric towers earlier bombed in North Cotabato and Lanao del Sur.

In Davao City alone, people suffer seven-hour power outage every day. Businessmen have been complaining of heavy losses resulting from power failure.

Davao Light and Power Co. explained that the power outage is due to the shutdown of a 120-megawatt generating unit of Therma South coal-fired power plant and the low water levels of Pulangui River in Bukidnon and Lake Lanao in Marawi City, the main sources of hydroelectric power in Mindanao.

Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto yesterday called on the executive department to act swiftly on the blackouts hitting Mindanao, saying power failure in the island could seriously affect the results of the elections.

Of the 54,363,844 registered voters for the May 9 polls, 12,457,285 will vote in Mindanao’s 33 cities and 422 towns.

“No-el due to no-el, or no elections due to no electricity will raise the political temperature there. That would be a big problem,” Recto said in a statement.

“A Mindanaoan is in the ballot for the presidency. It’s a tight race. One region, one big city can make a difference on the final presidential and vice presidential vote tally, so you can just imagine the frustration of the Mindanaoans if they won’t be able to vote for their bets on May 9.

“Almost one in four voters are in Mindanao. It has twice as many voters in Metro Manila,” he added. 

He warned that “darkness is the best breeding ground for all sorts of conspiracy theories. But if there’s light, if there’s electricity, all speculations, and even sabotage plans, will stop.”

Recto is urging the two task forces formed by Malacañang to deliver on their tasks to ensure power for May elections and address the problem of rotating blackouts in Mindanao.

Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada said the Power Task Force Election and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Securing Energy Facilities are already conducting preparatory works, maintenance, and monitoring to provide power supply during the election period.

Recto said this early, contingency plans must be readied, including sourcing of locally available portable generators that would power voting precincts.

“Electrical wirings of schools must be checked. If there are many generators in the locality, the local government units, local officials of the Commission on Elections, civic groups should identify these as early as now. We only have a few weeks left before elections. Bayanihan (communal work) is needed here,” he added.

On paper, Mindanao has available capacity of 1,579 megawatts as of January 2016, below Mindanao’s peak demand of 1,711 MW.

For April 11, power outlook is bleak with 1,445 MW available capacity, system peak of 1,458 MW, and gross reserve of -13 MW.

Earlier, Recto recommended the appointment of an energy undersecretary for Mindanao who shall be the “focal person” on the island’s power supply.

One of the functions of the energy undersecretary for Mindanao is to keep tabs and keep the levers moving on 290 pending renewable energy projects in Mindanao which are projected to feed an additional 3,000 MW to the grid by 2020, Recto said.

The biggest chunk of these are 242 hydroelectrical projects with a combined potential installed capacity of 2,148 MW, as per monitoring by the Mindanao Development Authority.

Luzon loses 100 MW

The Luzon grid may also be compromised this summer as it lost 100 MW in capacity after Millennium Energy Inc. cancelled its contract with Manila Electric Co. (Meralco),  the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said.

ERC chairman Jose Vicente Salazar said the commission has met with officials of Millennium Energy, which raised its dispute with Meralco over the distribution wheeling service agreement (DWSA). The generation company has decided to rescind its contract with Meralco.

“Millennium said it is currently incurring losses because Meralco imposed very high rates under the distribution wheeling service agreement,” Salazar said.

Millennium Energy owns the 310-MW Navotas I and II gas turbine power plant at the Navotas Fish Port complex.

In April 2015, Millennium started to deliver 100-MW to the Luzon grid.

Under the DWSA, Millennium’s plant is embedded in the Meralco. This means it has to pay wheeling rates to Meralco if it will dispatch capacity to other distribution utilities.

Currently, Meralco’s franchise area covers Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite and Rizal, as well as certain areas in Batangas, Laguna, Pampanga and Quezon.

“This is one thing that is crucial with the agreement, it has to pay rates despite the fact it did not get dispatched in the electricity spot market,” Salazar said.

But since Millennium has stopped offering in the spot market, even if it is under a must dispatch rule, this could have implications in the power rates and in the supply in the Luzon grid.

“Millennium can be liable under the PEMC rules because it has the capacity to offer to the market. If it does not make an offer, it will have an effect on the WESM prices,” Salazar explained.

Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) is the operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the country’s trading floor for power.

Salazar said the ERC has yet to receive any filing from either party but they want the consumers to be aware of the situation. - With Danessa Rivera