487,000 affected by power interruptions – Meralco

MANILA, Philippines — Almost half a million residents suffered power interruptions last Thursday due to power supply deficiency in the Luzon grid, according to the Manila Electric Co.

Meralco said it implemented manual load dropping (MLD) or rotational power interruptions last May 23 that lasted for an hour to one and a half hours in parts of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Manila, Rizal and Pampanga.

The MLD, which is done to ease the power demand in the grid, affected around 487,000 customers, Meralco added.

The power firm said all electricity services were fully restored by 11:55 p.m. of Thursday, ahead of the lifting of the red alert status on Luzon grid around 12:50 a.m. yesterday.

“We thank our affected customers for their understanding. We also express our appreciation to ILP (interruptible load program) participants in the Meralco franchise area that de-loaded for their help in managing the situation,” Meralco spokesman and head of corporate communications Joe Zaldarriaga said yesterday.

“We also continue to urge the public to continue practicing energy efficiency and conservation measures to aid in demand-side management,” Zaldarriaga added.

Power supply in the Luzon grid remained strained yesterday as some 2,285.5 megawatts (MW) of energy were unavailable to the grid after at least 21 power plants were on forced outages while eight more were running on derated capacities.

Because of this, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) raised a yellow alert status on the Luzon grid as its operating supply margin was insufficient to meet its contingency requirement. The yellow alert was up from 1 p.m. until 11 p.m. yesterday.

The Luzon grid had an available capacity of 14,331 MW while its peak demand stood at 13,691 MW, based on NGCP’s advisory as of 2 p.m. yesterday.

A yellow alert was also placed on the Visayas grid from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. yesterday. The Visayas grid had an available capacity of 2,681 MW while its peak demand stood at 2,312 MW, according to the NGCP.