NGCP announces possible power interruptions in parts of Luzon

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has announced possible power service interruptions in parts of Luzon on Tuesday afternoon.

NGCP said the grid is currently under red alert after nearly 20 power plants were on forced outages.

In an advisory, the NGCP said it may implement manual load dropping (MLD) in the following areas from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on April 16, 2024:

• Parts of Ilocos Norte (INEC)
• Parts of Isabela (ISELCO1)
• Parts of Olongapo City (OEDC)
• Parts of Cagayan (CAGELCO 2)
• Parts of Batangas (BATELEC 1)

“Schedule may be canceled if system condition improves, such as if actual demand falls below projections,” the NGCP said.

The Luzon Grid is under red alert from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, after 19 power plants were on forced outages while three others were running on derated capacities, for a total capacity of 2,117.3 megawatts (MW) unavailable to the grid.

A red alert status indicates that the power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement.

In a succeeding advisory, the NGCP said it implemented MLD at 4:16 p.m. in parts of Baguio City and Benguet (BENECO), Ilocos Sur (ISECO), Nueva Ecija (NEECO II), and Aurora (AURELCO).

“NGCP encourages everyone to exercise prudence in using electricity,” it said.

Meralco customers

Meralco, meanwhile, has announced that it may implement one-hour manual load dropping (MLD) or rotating power interruptions between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. in its franchise area following NGCP's declaration of red alert in the Luzon grid.

Meralco said that between 2:01 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., around 180,000 service connections may be affected in parts of:

• Bulacan – some barangays in Angat, Bustos, Malolos City, Norzagaray, Pandi, San Jose del Monte City, Santa Maria
• Laguna – some barangays in Calauan, San Pablo City
• Metro Manila – some barangays in Caloocan City, Manila, Pasay City, Pasig City, Quezon City, Taguig City
• Quezon Province – some barangays in Candelaria, Mauban, Sampaloc, Tayabas City

Between 3:01 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Meralco said that  480,000 service connections may be affected in parts of:

• Batangas – some barangays in Batangas City
• Bulacan – some barangays in Malolos City, Plaridel, San Jose del Monte CIty, San Rafael, Santa Maria
• Cavite – some barangays in Amadeo, Gen. Trias City, Imus City, Kawit, Naic, Noveleta, Silang, Tagaytay City, Tanza, Trece Martirez City
• Laguna – some barangays in Liliw, Luisiana, Majayjay, Nagcarlan, Pila, Sta. Cruz
• Metro Manila – some barangays in Caloocan City, Makati City, Marikina City, Parañaque City, San Juan City, Valenzuela City
• Quezon Province – some barangays in Candelaria, Lucban, Lucena City, Sampaloc, Sariaya, Tayabas City
• Rizal Province – some barangays in Angono, Antipolo City, Baras, Cainta, Cardona, Morong, San Mateo, Tanay, Teresa

"Meralco did not resort to any manual load dropping or rotating power interruptions… This is partly due to the help of our big-load customers, which collectively de-loaded around 300MW under the interruptible load program (ILP)," it said in a separate advisory. — VAL/VDV, GMA Integrated News