Luzon, Visayas grids on red alert on Wednesday; Mindanao grid on yellow

Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao grids will be placed on red and yellow alert status on Wednesday, according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

For Luzon, the NGCP said red alert status will hoisted from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. while the yellow alert will be raised from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The NGCP said Luzon will have an available capacity of 14,241 megawatts (MW) against an expected peak demand of 13,643 MW.

"[Four] plants have been on forced outage since 2023, 4 between January and March 2024, and 12 since April 2024; while 2 are running on derated capacities, for a total of 1,840.3MW unavailable to the grid," the NGCP said.

For the Visayas, the NGCP said red alert status will be raised from 12 noon to 5 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. while yellow alert status will be raised from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The Visayas will have an available Capacity of 2,462 MW against a peak Demand of 2,525 MW.

"[One] plant has been on forced outage since 2022, 2 since 2023, 2 between January and March 2024, and 15 since April 2024; while 8 are running on derated capacities, for a total of 621.6MW unavailable to the grid," the NGCP said.

It added that reduced capacity exported by Mindanao to Visayas also aggravated the power situation in Visayas. 

For Mindanao, the NGCP said yellow alert status will be raised from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The region has an available capacity of 2,761 MW against a peak demand of 2,614 MW.

"[Nine] plants are on forced outage since April 2024, while five (5) are running on derated capacities, for a total of 673.98MW unavailable to the grid," the NGCP said.

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

A yellow alert, on the other hand, is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.

House probe

At the House of Representatives, the Makabayan bloc said it will file a resolution to investigate the insufficient power supply in the country, as well as the frequent power outages.

“Magfa-file kami ng resolution para imbestigahan itong seemingly unpreparedness na nangyayari sa ating mga gencos. Parang taon-taon na kasing nangyayari iyan. And yet kapag may mga ganitong panahon, nagtataas sila, nagiging dahilan ito para tumaas ang presyo ng kuryente,” ACT Teachers Partylist Rep France Castro told reporters in an ambush interview.

[We will file a resolution to look into this seemingly unpreparedness from our gencos. It occurs every year and yet during this time, they increase cost resulting to higher electric rates.]

Castro also said it is not just the generation companies that may be accountable but also the Department of Energy.

“Hindi lang ito gencos. Kaya nga mayroon tayong investigation para makita natin yung root causes. Saan ba mayroong accountability at pagpapabaya? Gencos lang yung primary kasi alam natin sila yung nagpo-produce at nagge-generate ng kuryente,” Castro explained.

[It is not only the gencos. That's why we'll start a probe to look into the root causes. We'll look into where accountability starts. Gencos are only primary since they produce and generate electricity.]

“Hindi lang naman gencos ang may kasalanan diyan kundi iyong agency talaga natin na nangangalaga sa energy, yung DOE,” she added.

[It's not only the gencos but also the agency handling energy, the DOE.]

Gabriela Partylist Rep Arlene Brosas said the DOE and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines must be invited to the probe. — with Tina Panganiban-Perez/KBK/RSJ, GMA Integrated News