Power outages predicted in April, May

Last updated on May 6th, 2021 at 08:01 am

The National Electrification Administration (NEA) said Monday that power interruptions may be expected in the dry season because of the predicted power supply shortage in the coming months.

Given the high demand and low supply, one-hour power interruptions could be expected in April and May, according to NEA administrator Edgardo Masongsong.

He was referring to the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with data from the Department of Health (DOH) showing as of Saturday 487 people under investigation in the Philippines.

Death toll has already soared past 1,700 as of Monday in China, the epicenter of the disease, with 1,933 new cases confirmed by the health commission of the Hubei province.

Masongsong clarified that event cancelation due to COVID-19 could reduce electricity demand during the summer season.

His remarks came after the energy department (DOE) itself predicted that red alerts could be released from April 18-21 and from May 20-22.

The DOE also forecast that the Luzon power grid would need an additional capacity of 256 megawatts (MW) to 821MW to prevent the region’s yellow or red warning.

The NEA has also suggested that ECs take various measures to deal with the potential issue.