THE Department of Energy (DOE) assured ample supply of power in Mindanao during the 2019 midterm elections.

Energy Industry Management Chief Nilo Geroche said Wednesday, May 8, during Habi at Kape media forum that they already created the Energy Task Force Election (EFTE) to secure energy facilities during the May 13 poll.

They also prepared contingency plans during outages that may possibly occur in some areas to ensure “clean and unquestionable election results”.

“If there are scenarios na may mga outages because of uncontrolled [circumstances], kasi sa grid pag may mga unplanned outages, magkakaproblema tayo. At the same time, lalo sa mga planta,” Geroche said.

“Actually, lahat tayo sa Mindanao will be affected if there would be circumstances like that. However, we already have our contingency [plans] such as the requirement that all establishments will have their own generator,” he added.

He assured that all electric cooperatives, even the ailing cooperatives, are already mandated to also have their own contingency plans during unforeseen outages so as to fulfill the directive of the DOE undersecretary and EFTE chairperson Alexander Lopez to ensure stable energy supply.

Geroche said the demand for energy will become lower during election period as it is a holiday so there will be enough reserve power for Mindanao.

The peak demand in Mindanao has already reached 1,935 megawatts (MW). The Mindanao Grid currently has an available capacity of 3,210 MW.

The EFTE is composed of DOE, National Electrification Administration, National Power Corporation, National Transmission Corporation, Philippine National Oil Company, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation, Philippine Electricity Market Corporation, and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.

Geroche said that despite the excess supply of energy in Mindanao DOE is still encouraging the public to conserve energy. (LHC)