AN OFFICIAL of the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company Inc. (Cepalco) on Friday, March 8, said the dry spell is not a threat to power supply, as she assured consumers that electricity will remain stable, especially in the next two months.
Marilyn Chavez, Cepalco's assistant vice president and head of the customer and community relations department, said the power distribution utility does not solely rely sources on hydro-power plants.
Chavez said about 70-80 percent of power allocation comes from either diesel or coal plants.
“We are not much affected because our power sources don't solely depend on hydro-power,” she said, referring to water-based power plants.
It can be recalled that Cepalco implemented rotational power outage during the dry season, three years ago, because of power supply shortage in Mindanao.
The drought resulting to low-water levels in hydro-power plants has aggravated the power crisis.
“Unlike before that we fear (for power outages) because 80 percent of our supply come from the Agus (power plant), in Pulangi back then, but now we depended on bigger portion from diesel or coal, which is not a threat to El Niño,” she said.
Chavez said should there be power interruptions in the coming days or months, this is either due to circumstances that are beyond Cepalco's control, such as natural calamities, or Cepalco's continuous maintenance works and line upgrading.