AN OFFICIAL of the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) said the implementation of the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) has not lessened the number of brownout hours in the entire city.
Engineer Remuel Aca-ac, Zamcelco ILP in-charge, said the implementation of the ILP only benefitted some of the 25 electric feeders of the cooperative.
He added that so far, only five local big companies have enrolled with the ILP, the implementation of which started last May 21.
Earlier, Engineer George Ledesma, Zamcelco general manager, announced that 15 local big companies have signified intention to join the program.
But Aca-ac said that one of the five companies has temporarily stopped from joining the program since the firm has to replace its power transformer.
This leaves to only four firms participating in the ILP, reducing the firms' energy capacity contribution to two megawatts (MW) from three MW. A deficit of four MW translates to one hour brownout.
Zamboanga City is experiencing six to seven hours daily rotational brownout, as Zamcelco is receiving an average of 66-MW daily from the National Power Corporation and two Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
The power deficit of Zamcelco is 24 MW since its peak load demand is 90 MW. The power deficit of 24 MW translates to six to seven hours brownout.
The ILP is a demand-side management solution regarded as one of the countermeasures meant to help mitigate the projected power supply strain in the summer months of this year.
It works by calling on consumers with loads of at least one MW to run their own generator sets during peak hours instead of drawing power from the grid.
The de-loaded energy will then be diverted to residential areas.
The scheme is expected to produce enough energy to significantly reduce the power shortage in this city, thereby decreasing the duration of rotational power outages.
The firms that enrolled with the ILP will be paid by Zamcelco based on the Energy Regulatory Commission guidelines. (Bong Garcia)