Palace: All blackouts to be scheduled, announced

MANILA, Philippines - Impending rotating power outages will be scheduled and announced in advance to lessen public inconvenience in affected areas, a Palace official said yesterday.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Department of Energy (DOE) under Secretary Jericho Petilla is working to ensure that power interruptions will not adversely affect the course of business and residential requirements.

“The DOE wants to make sure that power outages are minimized. There are scheduled shutdowns that we have calendared and they want to make sure that all other plants do not have unscheduled shutdowns,” Valte told reporters.

She called on all stakeholders to conserve energy. “Government offices should also contribute to energy conservation,” she said.

She advised consumers to heed Petilla’s call to keep their air-conditioning units’ thermostat at 25 degrees, which has been the policy in government offices, as well as the turning off of lights and electric fans at certain times of the day.

Last week, Malacañang confirmed that rotating power outages would be experienced this summer borne out of the aging power plants in the country.

“But contrary to some reports, the rotating blackouts will not be every day,” Valte said.

President Aquino had assured the public there will be no blackouts this year, saying that he only sought emergency powers from Congress as a last resort in case power plants conk out due to increased demand for electricity.