By Tracy Cabrera
With the country bracing for the severe impact of a forecasted super El Niño event until the middle of next year, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is urging businesses and households to adopt energy-saving measures to cope up with the anticipated increase in demand and consumption for electricity.
While strengthening its power supply preparations and reinforcing its distribution network to manage power supply, Meralco is already working closely with the Department of Energy (DoE), the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), including power suppliers and other stakeholders, in monitoring
developments and mitigate potential effects on consumers.
According to Meralco vice president and utility economics division head Lawrence Fernandez, they have contracted sufficient power supply to meet the requirements of its more than 8.3 million customers even as effort are being done to pursue additional capacity in order to address the expected upward pressure on electricity demand and prices as temperatures rise.
Fernandez disclosed that the
additional capacity to be generated is expected to augment the utility’s existing contracted supply.
This includes 200 megawatts (MW) of baseload capacity covered by a completed competitive selection process as well as a scheduled 250-MW increase in supply from MTerra Solar, a major solar power and battery energy storage project in the Philippines.
For his part, Meralco corporate communications head Agapito ‘Joe’ Zaldarriaga cited that “with higher temperatures expected during the El Niño, they anticipate an increase in electricity demand (so) they are calling on customers to be mindful of their consumption and to practice energy efficiency, which will also help in managing their electricity bills.”
Beyond securing adequate power supply, Meralco is also stepping up efforts to ensure that its distribution facilities remain reliable amid potentially higher electricity demand.
Prior to the El Niño’s onset, the country’s largest distribution utility has started conducting regular maintenance, upgrades and improvements across its distribution network, including replacing aging transformers, secondary lines and old post insulators to address capacity and loading concerns.
“(Our) crews are also regularly trimming trees near distribution facilities to minimize the risk of falling branches and debris that could damage power lines and cause service interruptions,” Zaldarriaga noted.
“We are also accelerating the commissioning of additional feeders to relieve heavily loaded circuits and to limit the number of customers affected when power interruptions occur, we have been implementing distribution automation and circuit segmentation measures designed for this purpose,” he added.
In addition, to support faster response and restoration, Meralco is maintaining sufficient inventories of line materials for routine maintenance as well as increasing stocks of commonly used materials for emergency repairs.
Meralco is likewise prepared to deploy additional field personnel and crews to respond to customer concerns and service disruptions that may arise during the El Niño period.
Zaldarriaga renewed Meralco’s call for businesses and industrial establishments to participate in the government’s Interruptible Load Program (ILP), which serves as a demand-side management measure during periods of tight power supply.
“Under the program, participating large-load customers temporarily use their own generator sets or adjust their operations instead of drawing electricity from the grid when needed. This helps free up available electricity for other consumers, particularly households, during Red Alert conditions or when available supply is insufficient to meet demand,” he pointed out.
For households, Meralco is encouraging practical energy efficiency measures that can help manage electricity consumption and bills, particularly during periods of higher temperatures.
Among its recommendations include setting air-conditioning units at 25°C; maintaining air-conditioning units regularly by cleaning filters and condenser fins, checking refrigerant levels and air ducts for leaks§and following the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule; maximizing natural lighting during daytime and switch off lights when they are not needed; and replacing inefficient incandescent bulbs with energy-saving light-emitting diode (LED) lighting.
