‘Some people dramatizing’ length of Luzon brownouts – Cusi

Alfonso Cusi

Manila, Philippines — Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi claimed Friday that some people are “dramatizing” the length of the power outages in Luzon, “putting panic into the heads of the people.”

During a House hearing on the recent rotational brownouts that hit Luzon earlier this week, Cusi cited Meralco records which showed that brownouts last for only two to three hours contrary to claims that power interruptions last longer.

“Some people are dramatizing that there were 10 or 11 hours of brownout, ‘yan po mapapatunayan natin sa records ng Meralco, makikita po maximum of two hours, if not three hours,” Cusi said.

(Some people are dramatizing that there were 10 or 11 hours of brownout, but based on records from Meralco, it only lasted for a maximum of two hours, if not three hours.)

“Napakakuwan po to dramatize, to put panic into the heads of the people. Lahat po ginagawa ng lahat ng industry players para makuwan po ‘yan,” he added.

(It’s too much to dramatize, to put panic into the heads of the people. Industry players are doing everything they can to address this.)

Luzon experienced rotational power interruptions due to thinning energy supply, with the area even being placed under red alert for 13 hours on Wednesday.

Cusi reiterated to House lawmakers that the power interruption was triggered after four large power plants broke down.

“Ito pong pagkawala the last two days ng supply is because po yung pagkasasbay sabay ng pagkasira nung apat na malalaking planta po that we lost around 2,000 megawatts sa supply po.

(The thinning supply in the last two days is because four big power plants broke down and we lost around 2,000 megawatts.)

“But it doesn’t mean that we don’t have the capacity, we have the capacity, but unfortunately bumagsak nga lang po yung planta,” he added.

(But it doesn’t mean that we don’t have the capacity, we have the capacity, but unfortunately, the plants broke down.)

The energy chief insisted that the country has enough supply of electricity. However, factors such as heat, a peak in power demand, and the shutdown of the four plants have contributed to the power outages.

“Naging policy po ng DOE (Department of Energy) is from peak demand, we have extra supply of 20 percent so kapag magkaaberya po meron ‘yan,” he said.

(The policy of the DOE is from peak demand, we have extra supply of 20 percent so if something goes wrong, we have that.)

“Nagsasabay-sabay ang ‘di magandang pangyayari sa June 2 and June 3. Masyadong mainit ang panahon, mataas ang demand sumabay ng bagsak ang mga planta po,” Cusi added.

/MUF

(It’s just unfortunate that bad events happened simultaneously. It’s too hot, the demand is high and then the plants broke down.)