SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union, Philippines – The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) in North Luzon has called on consumers to start conserving energy to cushion the effect of a possible power shortage during summer.
“Based on our historical data, there is a possibility of insufficiency of our reserved power supply for summer because it is the season when the use of energy becomes really high,” said Lilibeth Gaydowen, NGCP regional corporate communications and public affairs officer.
“If ever power supply is insufficient or something happens to our power plants, the effect would be rotational brownouts,” she added.
The Luzon grid consumed 8,700 megawatts, higher than what was expected during the year, which resulted to rotational blackouts, said Gaydowen.
“The months of March, April and May comprise the peak season for power use. The consumption of energy becomes higher each day that our supply becomes insufficient... it may be prevented through proper usage of energy,” she said.
“The more we use energy...the more we fall short. We must take turns using it,” Gaydowen said.
She said the peak hours are from 6 to 8 a.m., from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 6 to 10 p.m.
Gaydowen advised the public to do chores that require energy consumption outside peak hours to help minimize the energy fluctuation.
She also called for consumers’ participation in energy conservation to maintain energy distribution during the summer season.