Senate to probe rotational brownouts in Luzon

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian called for an inquiry on the rotational brownouts in Luzon.

“This is a critical situation, and I would like to request the Department of Energy to get all hands on deck, especially in the next coming days because from the forecast that I am seeing, there will be a problem of load dropping in the next eight days,” he said.

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Gatchalian noted that 339,000 households in 90 barangays in 16 local government units were affected by the power outages on June 1.

Two vaccination sites in Valenzuela City also experienced power outages.

According to Gatchalian’s Senate Resolution 740, DOE is responsible for ensuring the quality, reliability, security, and affordability of electric power supply in the country.

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“Furthermore, it is crucial for the DOE to provide long-term solutions to this problem and a specific timeline for these plans, to include the hastening of the build-out of new power plants, aggressively utilizing energy efficiency and conservation, and contracting sufficient ancillary reserves,” he said.

“All these things are necessary to protect the public and the economy from losses due to power outages and the resulting high prices of electricity due to limited power supply,” the lawmaker added.

The senator said it is “high time” to provide long-term solutions to the “recurring” problem of power supply shortage which the country experienced for the past five years.

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Senate to probe rotational brownouts in Luzon

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said Tuesday that there would be rotational brownouts throughout Luzon due to plant failures.

“Magtutuloy-tuloy ‘yan hanggang probably June 4… then Monday, possibly may red alert pa rin,” said Reynaldo Abadilla, head of Luzon system operations of the NGCP.

Some parts of Luzon are experiencing rotational brownouts due to the failure of more than 20 plants.

Due to the lack of supply,  announced a 2-hour rotating brownout but said they were avoiding power outages at hospitals and .

According to the Department of Energy, NGCP must have a contracted power reserve.

“Assuming na naka-100 percent fully contracted si NGCP sa ancillary services, hindi pa rin po mawawala ‘yong mga grid alert. Kaya di kami naka-fully  kasi wala ho kaming mabibilhan,” answered NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza.

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