MANILA, Philippines - Consumer rights advocacy group Government Watch (formerly Consumer and Oil Price Watch) has expressed alarm over power outages in parts of Visayas and Mindanao.
Government Watch chairman Raul T. Concepcion said dams in the area should be opened, which would allow water to be used in generating power.
“I am optimistic that if we work together, we can find a quick solution to the situation and help our countrymen in these areas to cushion the impact of these brownouts and also the ever increasing cost of oil”, Concepcion said.
Concepcion said reserves in dams would be replaced in the rainy season.
The Department of Energy (DOE) earlier said that the lack of power in the grids resulted in two to four hours of rotating brownouts in January.
To date, the Mindanao grid has a system capacity of 1,059 megawatts (MW), lower than the peak demand of 1,219 MW, data from the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines showed.
Concepcion said Government Watch has received reports that typhoon and earthquake-hit Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao are suffering from daily brownouts.