Marcos orders government to set standard in conserving energy

The NGCP has put the entire Luzon grid on red alert.(INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered all government offices on Tuesday to set the standard in conserving energy and minimizing power interruptions.

Marcos issued the order in a Twitter post after the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) extended the red alert status in Luzon up to 11 p.m. on Tuesday and the yellow alert in the Visayas up to 9 p.m.

“At this time, it is crucial that we all work together to ensure a stable power supply for the next couple of days. Let’s adopt energy-efficient practices and stand together to overcome this challenge,” Marcos said.

He also ordered the Department of Energy to closely monitor and coordinate with all stakeholders to address the situation.

A red alert status is issued when the power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement.

A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement. It does not necessarily result in a power outage.

NGCP said 19 power plants in Luzon were on forced outages and three others were running on lower capacities.

Due to this, a power supply of 2,117.3 megawatts is unavailable to the whole grid.