Thursday, July 26, 2007 Brownout hits metro, nearby provinces
SOME areas in Metro Manila and nearby provinces suffered a power outage after the National Power Corporation (Napocor) implemented manual load dropping (MLD) Wednesday due to insufficient power, particularly from hydroelectric power plants.
Napocor said the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) resorted to a three-hour manual load-dropping schedule, which affected some parts of its franchise area.
The Napocor blamed the low inflow of water into dams such as Angat, Magat, Pantabangan, San Roque and Binga that provide power. Water in the dams has dropped to critical levels due to the prolonged dry spell in Luzon.
Portions of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and several areas in Metro Manila such as the cities of Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, Caloocan, Quezon, Mandaluyong, and Pasig suffered a power outage as a result.
If Napocor will fail to address the situation, Meralco said they expect the rotating brownouts to last for three days.
Other factors blamed for the brownouts were maintenance operations being done on power plants and delays in coal deliveries to coal-run electrical facilities.
Metro Manila and nearby provinces suffered rotating brownouts last April after Napocor ran out of coal. (MSN/Sunnex)
