Meralco sees uninterrupted Wednesday power despite grid worries

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MANILA, Philippines — Amid concerns about the country’s power grids, an official of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) expressed optimism that parts of the country will not have power interruptions on Wednesday.

According to Meralco vice president Joe Zaldarriaga, this was as long as no successive issues would occur in the country’s power system.

“Well, kung yellow alert ito at hindi naman magkakaroon ng panibagong aberya, mukhang maitatawid natin ngayong araw na ito,” Zaldarriaga said in a radio interview on Radyo 630.

(If this is a yellow alert and there will be no new problems, we can cross this day with no power interruptions.)

The official made the statement after the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) raised yellow alerts over the Luzon and Visayas grids on April 16 and 17.

READ: Meralco lists areas to experience brownouts due to NGCP alert status

In the NGCP’s system, a yellow alert denotes that “the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.”

Zaldarriaga pointed out that energy issues during the dry season were common, as energy consumption in the country was also high when people frequently used appliances to cool themselves.

“‘Yan talaga mataas ang demand for electricity, for energy, for the simple reason ‘yong temperatura, particularly ’yong heat index, has a very significant impact on demand,” he said.

(Electricity demand will be high because temperature, particularly the heat index, has a very significant impact on demand.)

“Ibig sabihin, mas kailangan ng mga kababayan natin na gumamit ng kuryente, particularly  ‘yong mga cooling devices tulad ng air conditioning unit, ‘yong electric fan, refrigerator, at iba pa. So mas tumataas ‘yong gamit talaga, mas mahaba ginagamit itong mga appliances na ito, at mas madalas, kaya nagsa-spike ang demand anywhere between 10 [and] 40 percent tuwing summer,” he added.

(That means our fellows need to use electricity more, especially for cooling devices such as air conditioning units, ‘yong electric fans, refrigerators, etc. Usage will increase, and the time spent using these appliances will be much longer, so demand spikes between 10 and 40 percent during summer.)