Firms urged to help save power for summer 2023

MANILA, Philippines — Major power consumers have been asked to help ensure the availability of sufficient electricity, especially in summer next year.

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the Department of Energy (DOE) are urging more companies across different industries to join the government’s Interruptible Load Program (ILP) to help prevent power interruptions whenever the grid is placed on red alert.

“Big companies, malls, hotels and buildings have their own gen sets that can run or may reduce their operations so we can avoid blackouts. This way small businesses and residential users can continue with their day-to-day activities without power interruptions,” said Ma. Cecilia Domingo, Meralco vice president and head for enterprise and national government.

Domingo said Meralco seeks to recruit more ILP participants and increase the available de-loading capacity under the program.

She said these efforts are important contingency measures for summer next year, when temperatures rise and demand goes up.

The ILP is a voluntary and demand-side management program, which calls on big-load customers to temporarily de-load from the grid and use their own generating units or reduce their operations if power supply is insufficient.

Among the major ILP participants are SM Prime Holdings Inc., Waltermart Shopping Center Management Inc. and Robinsons Land Corp.

“Since 2014, the ILP in the Meralco franchise area has been implemented 26 times and has since successfully spared as many as 1.8 million households from power interruptions,” Meralco lead specialist for generation and transmission economics Ma. Leticia Sapina said.

Aside from being compensated for their participation in the ILP, Sapina said participants also get to help other consumers.

She said the support of ILP participants has proven to be instrumental in ensuring continuity of supply in Meralco’s franchise area.

As of yesterday, Meralco said the total capacity available for de-loading in its franchise area was 563.89 megawatts from 267 participating accounts.

Irma Exconde, DOE director for electric power industry management bureau, said among the challenges considered in the 2023 power outlook are the two-week maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya gas field from Feb. 4 to 18 and delays in the completion of the liquefied natural gas facilities.

“We are preparing for the contingencies for next year because of the challenges faced by the power sector,” Exconde said.

The DOE and Meralco also urged the public to be part of the solution and continue practicing energy efficiency and conservation measures.

“The DOE has come out publicly to say that we are not endorsing any energy-saving device. If you want to save on electricity, you practice energy efficiency, you do conservation. Nothing beats that,” Patrick Aquino, DOE director for energy utilization management bureau, said.

Aside from regularly providing energy efficiency tips, Meralco empowers its customers with tools like the appliance calculator on the Meralco mobile app, through which they can know how much power their gadgets and appliances consume to help them manage their monthly consumption better.