Meralco: Nearly 2M customers hit by power interruptions amid Luzon Grid red alert

Nearly 2 million customers of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) experienced rotational power interruptions on Saturday, June 1, due to the red alert implemented on the Luzon Grid, according to the distribution utility firm.

Meralco said it implemented manual load dropping lasting an average of 1.5 hours starting at 2:17 p.m., with services fully restored at 11:47 p.m. Among those affected were customers in Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Manila, Pampanga, Rizal and Quezon.

“Due to the significant supply deficiency, rotational power interruptions had to be implemented across Luzon, including in Meralco’s service areas, to manage the current system condition,” Meralco spokesperson and head of corporate communications Joe Zaldarriaga said.

“We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience caused by this challenging situation. We continue to proactively exhaust all demand-side management efforts to help minimize, if not avert, power interruptions,” he added.

Meralco said it also de-loaded a collective of 200 megawatts covering its commercial and industrial customers.

The company constructs, operates, and maintains electric distribution systems in the cities and municipalities of Bulacan, Cavite, Metro Manila and Rizal, as well as certain areas in the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Pampanga and Quezon.

The firm counts as subsidiaries and associates Vantage Energy Solutions and Management Inc. and MeridianX Inc., acting as retail electricity suppliers in Luzon and the Visayas.

The Luzon Grid was placed under red alert from 1 p.m. on Saturday to 12 a.m. on Sunday, June 2, due to the outage of Ilijan Block and B, with a total of 1,200 megawatts. The available capacity was recorded at 12,706 megawatts, versus the peak demand of 11,955 megawatts.—RF, GMA Integrated News