Consumers urged to help manage power demand

CEBU, Philippines — Consumers can help ease pressure on the power supply and potentially lower electricity costs by doing activities that require high electricity consumption during the daytime, according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

Engr. Amado Otarra III, who appeared before the Mandaue City Council during its regular session, said consumers could help manage power demand by moving activities such as ironing clothes and using vacuum cleaners to daytime hours.

“Importante kaayo na siya karong panahona labi na ang atong deficiency sa power naa sa gabie,” Otarra said.

In an interview with reporters, Otarra explained that the power supply situation becomes tighter in the evening because a significant portion of the Visayas’ electricity supply comes from solar power.

He said solar power accounts for nearly 35 percent of the total power supply in the Visayas, but its availability is limited to daytime hours.

Although electricity demand is still high during the day, Otarra said solar power helps provide enough supply to meet that demand. The situation becomes more challenging at night when solar generation is no longer available but demand remains high.

Otarra said consumers may not be able to directly control the operation of power plants, but they can help by adjusting the timing of activities that require high electricity consumption.

“If pwede na siya natong ibalhin og oras nga naay solar, hayag or adlawan, makatabang ta og paubos sa demand sa mga oras nga kuwang ta og supply,” he said.

He urged consumers to move activities that use large amounts of electricity to daytime whenever possible.

“Kung pwede, katong mga dagko nga buhatonon sa gabie ibalhin na sa adlawan,” Otarra said.

He acknowledged that the adjustment may seem small when done by only a few households, but said the impact could be significant if widely practiced.

“Kung lima ra ang mubuhat ani walay impact,” he said, emphasizing that the measure would be more effective if more consumers participated.

Aside from helping ease the power supply situation, Otarra said shifting electricity-intensive activities to daytime could also help reduce consumers’ electricity bills.

“Makapa-minus pa ni sa inyong kuryente, it will help,” he said.

Otarra explained that reducing demand during periods when electricity supply is tight could also lessen the need to purchase additional power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), where electricity prices can be higher.

More stable supply?

Meanwhile, Otarra said the power supply situation in the Visayas could improve from mid-November through December as several power plants are expected to return from scheduled preventive maintenance.

However, he said NGCP could not guarantee that the power situation would become fully stable because the power plants are privately owned and their operations are beyond the grid operator’s control.

“For now, dili ta ka-promise kay dependent ta, dili man gud na amo ang planta,” he said.

Otarra said several power plants are currently undergoing preventive maintenance, while others that had resumed operations were forced to shut down again after problems were detected in their systems.

He said power plants cannot simply continue operating when technical problems are identified because doing so could result in a plant failure and potentially cause a larger disruption to the grid.

Otarra explained that the sudden loss of a power plant can affect the stability of the entire grid and could result in a power shortage of more than 100 megawatts, depending on the capacity lost.

He said the NGCP is monitoring the situation and sees a possibility of improved supply by mid-November to December as plants return to operation.

“Again, dili ko mu-gyud ko mu-assure nga wala na tay mga problema nga ingon ani nga sige ta og rotational brownout,” Otarra said.

Among the plants expected to return from preventive maintenance are Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) Unit 1, with a capacity of 169 megawatts; Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) Unit 3 in Panay, with 150 megawatts; and KEPCO SPC Power Corp. (KSPC), with 103 megawatts.

According to NGCP, these units are expected to resume operations by November. — (FREEMAN)