Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla on Friday called on oil companies to use their own generators for their operations at their gas stations, oil depots and similar facilities on Monday to ensure an adequate supply of electricity during the elections.
Brownouts hit a large portion of Metro Manila and provinces in Luzon on Wednesday as six major power plants on the island went on unscheduled shutdowns, five days before the election on May 13. By Wednesday evening, three power plants had gone back online.
Power rates in Mindanao may shoot up by P1.80 to as much as P4 per kilowatt-hour should the electric cooperatives on the island decide to adopt the government’s recommendation that they acquire their own diesel-fired generators as a stop-gap measure.
A significant drop in power consumption was reported in the Cebu province on Saturday night when thousands switched off their lights and other electrical devices to mark Earth Hour.
Team PNoy senatorial candidate Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III twitted on Sunday, allegations by the opposition that the current power shortage in Mindanao could be a prelude to a sabotage of the outcome of the automated election in the region.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has allowed the Semirara Mining Company (SMC) to conduct preparatory activities for the resumption of mining operations even as the search continues for five missing workers buried alive in last month’s landslide at the Panian open mine pit on Semirara Island in Antique.
President Benigno Aquino III said on Thursday, the operations of the Semirara Mining Company (SMC) would remain suspended until an assurance from the mining firm of the safety of its site.
The environmentalist organization Greenpeace has asked Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla to abandon his department’s plans to revive the use of nuclear energy in the Philippines.
Motorists can expect a relief this week as local oil companies will likely implement a rollback in the prices of petroleum products.
President Benigno Aquino on Sunday presided over the changing of the guard at the energy department, taking time to personally swear in newly appointed Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla and his predecessor, Jose Rene Almendras, who also took his oath as secretary to the Cabinet.
President Benigno Aquino III has appointed Leyte Governor Jericho “Icot” Petilla as the new energy secretary, replacing Rene Almendras.
Leyte Governor Jericho “Icot” Petilla will be named energy secretary, replacing Rene Almendras, in a minor revamp of President Aquino’s two-year-old Cabinet, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad confirmed on Tuesday.
The simplest solution to a diminishing power supply in Luzon is to conserve energy, the Ilocano way.
