Ironing clothes and vacuuming during the daytime could help ease pressure on the Visayas power supply during evening hours, when electricity demand remains high and solar generation is no longer available.
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) Engr. Amado Otarra III made the call during his appearance before the Mandaue City Council, urging consumers to move electricity-intensive household activities to daylight hours whenever possible.
Otarra said solar power accounts for nearly 35 percent of the Visayas’ total electricity supply, helping meet demand during the day.
The situation becomes more challenging at night, when solar generation drops to zero while electricity consumption remains relatively high.
“If pwede na siya natong ibalhin og oras nga naay solar, hayag or adlawan, makatabang ta og paubos sa demand sa mga oras nga kuwang ta og supply,” Otarra said.
He said shifting high-power activities may have a larger impact when more households participate.
The adjustment could also help consumers manage electricity costs by reducing demand during periods when additional power may need to be sourced from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), where electricity prices can rise when supply is tight.
Otarra said power supply conditions in the Visayas could improve between mid-November and December as several power plants are expected to return from preventive maintenance.
Among the units expected to return to service by November are Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) Unit 1, which has a capacity of 169 megawatts; Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) Unit 3 in Panay, with 150 megawatts; and KEPCO SPC Power Corp. (KSPC), with 103 megawatts.
Ottara said several other plants remain under preventive maintenance, while some units that had resumed operations were forced to shut down again after technical problems were detected.
He said continuing to operate a power plant despite a detected problem could lead to a more serious failure and potentially affect grid stability.
The sudden loss of a generating unit could result in a power shortage or loss of more than 100 megawatts, depending on the capacity taken offline.
Despite the expected return of several generating units, Otarra said NGCP cannot guarantee that rotational brownouts will completely stop.
He explained that the power plants are privately owned and their operations are beyond NGCP’s control.
NGCP can only anticipate improved supply conditions as generating units return to service, but Otarra said consumers should still expect the possibility of power supply problems and rotational brownouts.
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