‘Red alert’ in Mindanao amid power blackouts

MINDANAO is now on “red alert” due to a power shortage, while Luzon will need more power generators in the next three years as a result of rising demand and the increasing population, Energy Secretary Jose Almendras said Tuesday.

He said Mindanao’s power reserves dropped to zero on Tuesday, when the peak demand reached 1,236 megawatts but the available supply reached only 1,215 megawatts.

The power distributors on the island were forced to hold back on their load, and that resulted in blackouts in some areas. Tuesday’s power shortage reached as much as 150 megawatts, Almendras said.

He appealed to stakeholders to help avert a power shortage in Luzon by boosting the supply of electricity in the provinces, towns and cities.

“We are appealing to various stakeholders and to [local government units] [to create] power generator facilities as the demand for electricity is increasing,” Almendras said.

“We need at least 600 megawatts for 2013 and 2014 for Luzon alone,” he said.

The Luzon grid would need at least 300 megawatts more to meet the rising demand for electricity and another 400 megawatts by 2016.

Almendras said he would soon present to the National Economic and Development Authority his department’s plan to redress the power shortage in Mindanao. Those would include the upgrading or rehabilitation of hydroelectric plants and the transfer of some power barges to the areas needing them, he said.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodgriguez, vice chairman of the House’s energy committee, said some sectors might have been orchestrating moves to delay action on some power supply contracts to increase pressure on the government to privatize state-owned electric power barges so those barges could be moved to Mindanao.

“Powerful and influential people are pushing [to privatize the barges],” Rodriguez said.

“I warn them that this won’t be good for consumers at it will mean higher electricity rates.” –Alena Mae S. Flores, Jess Malabanan, Manila Standard Today