Rotational brownouts affected 100,000 Meralco customers in Bulacan

The manual load dropping (MLD) or rotational power interruptions implemented on Monday evening due to red alerts hoisted over the Luzon grid affected about 100,000 customers, according to the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).

“The supply deficiency last night prompted Meralco to implement manual MLD that lasted around 20 minutes to an hour starting at 8:31 p.m., affecting around 100,000 customers mostly in parts of Bulacan. All services were restored by 10:00 p.m.,” Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said.

As the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Luzon grid under red and yellow alerts anew on Tuesday, Meralco said it has started coordinating with customers enrolled under the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) for their de-loading commitments to help ease the demand.

“The continued participation of our big-load customers proves to be very beneficial in managing the current supply situation. They collectively de-loaded around 300 MW yesterday, helping minimize rotational power interruptions despite the hours-long Red Alert that started at 1:00 p.m., ” Zaldarriaga said.

“With the Luzon Grid still on Red Alert today, we are still ready to implement MLD if needed as part of our responsibility to manage the system,” he said.

Meralco, meanwhile, continues to restore electricity service in areas hit by Typhoon Aghon.

As of 6:00 a.m., May 28, the power distributor’s affected customers are already down to 17,000 out of the more than 1.7 million who were hit by either momentary or sustained power interruptions. 

Most of the affected customers are in Quezon, Laguna, while the rest are in parts of Batangas, Cavite, Metro Manila, Rizal, and Bulacan.

“Rest assured that our crews are working non-stop to restore service at the soonest possible time,” Zaldarriaga said. —VAL, GMA Integrated News