THE Department of Energy (DOE) Visayas assured that there is enough power supply for the holidays until the last day of 2019.
DOE Visayas Acting Director Jose Rey Maleza said the current power supply and demand situation is normal.
“All of the power plants are operating. And we are assuring the consuming public that this will be the situation until the end of the year. So, we will be having a happy holidays,” he said.
The DOE Visayas, he said, has been conducting maintenance activities since January to secure it has enough power supply.
“Hopefully, we are good until next year,” Maleza said.
Visayas, he said, has a reserve of 400 megawatts (MW).
Based on the DOE’s Nov. 26 data, Visayas’s current capacity is at 2,500 MW during the evening, while it is at 2,600 MW in the morning and afternoon.
There are almost 50 power plants in the entire Visayas, and each has dependable capacity that varies from time to time, said Maleza.
The energy official further said that the current demand is at 2,000 MW. This is lower than the electricity usage last summer, which reached 2,224 MW—the highest system peak in Visayas, so far.
Last June 20, the power supply in Visayas was raised to red alert status at 7 p.m. This happened after the demand reached 2,082 MW while the supply was only at 2,014 MW. A red alert status means that there is no back-up power and power outages might happen.
Despite the present power supply stability in Visayas, Maleza urged commercial and industrial establishments, including malls and factories, to conserve energy as most of them put up additional lights decoration for the Christmas season.
He said the establishments and households should use LED lights as these are more efficient than traditional lighting such as fluorescent and incandescent lights. (WBS)