Senate panel to hold hearing on Luzon’s power situation

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate committee on energy will tackle the power situation in Luzon in light of the recent power outages.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, energy committee chairman, set the hearing on Aug. 15, as he expressed concern about the low level of reserves in Luzon, which he said was at a mere 800 megawatts in the last three days.

“It is so low that if anything happens to the power plants, blackouts will occur immediately,” he said.

Citing updates from authorities, Gatchalian said six power plants shut down at the same time, leading to a deficiency in the supply of around 1,200 megawatts (MW).

The Senate committee intends to look into the possibility of collusion among power producers.

Gatchalian said it is imperative to determine collusion among the producers, if any, with the intent of jacking up power prices.

“If this is proven they will face the consequences,” he said.

Invited to the hearing are officials of the Department of Energy (DOE) and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

“We have to take into account that our economy is growing and maybe we are not producing enough power to meet the increase in demand,” Gatchalian said.

The DOE is conducting its own probe into the matter, with particular focus on the possible violations of the power producers.

Normal supply but…

The Luzon grid is expected to have normal supply today but forecasts show thin power supply at the start of the workweek.

Luzon had enough supply yesterday while forecast by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) showed the power situation would be sufficient today, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said in a text message to The STAR.

The franchise area of Manila Electric Co. was expected not to experience any power interruption this weekend, Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said in another text message.

“The NGCP placed the grid under white alert with reserves of over 1,000 MW throughout the day. Given this forecast by NGCP, we do not expect any outage in the Meralco franchise area as a result of supply shortfall,” Zaldarriaga said.

NGCP data showed the Luzon grid had a capacity of 8,804 MW while peak demand was expected to reach 8,080 MW.

NGCP projections showed the Luzon grid is estimated to have a supply of 8,474 MW and a demand of 7,575 MW. This means the grid has an 899-MW gross reserve. – With Danessa Rivera