DOE ensures stable power supply during election week

Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada on Wednesday told the House of Representative energy committee that there is sufficient energy in the country come Election Day on May 9.

During the consultative hearing called by committee chairman Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, Monsada assured the committee that there will be no power shortage during the election week.

READ: Energy sector preparations for polls now in homestretch

She is also hoping there will no forced outages that might cut off the power transmission.

“I would say that we are confident, wala na lang masyadong forced outages (there would be no more forced outages). We are confident we can have a sufficient supply for the elections. Of course, everybody should pray that things go well,” Monsada said.

Deputy Assistant Chief Santiago Dimaliwat from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) presented to the committee the power outlook for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao on the election week.

He said the water reserve for Mindanao is thin in April because power plants are saving up its water resources to use come Election Day.

READ: Power in Mindanao assured

Heavily reliant on hydropower, Mindanao remains plagued with power outages that persist during the dry season.

“We are operating below. Medyo tinitipid nila lang tubig (They are saving up water) in time for the elections. That is reflected in the reserve profile of Mindanao,” he said.

NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said the reserve outlook in all island groups is enough on the day of elections—at least 2,200 megawatts (MW) reserve for Luzon, 190 MW reserve in Visayas and 373 MW reserve in Mindanao.

For his part, Jerome Matas from the office of Commission on Elections Chairperson Andres “Andy” Bautista told the hearing that the vote counting machines are equipped with batteries that run up to 14 hours.

Mark Anthony Amurao from the same office added that what need to be powered are the canvassing centers because the laptops which would be used for canvassing were only powered with batteries that run up to four hours only.

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) Vice President Ferdinand Geluz told the hearing that the country’s largest power distributor utility is 96 percent finished with the maintenance activities on the transmission lines. He added that it will be 100 percent completed on April 30.

In an interview after the hearing, Monsada assured the public that there will be no failure of elections because of power deficiency.

She said the power generators have committed their supply in case of a power shortage during election week.

Monsada added that the Department of Energy has created a Power Task Force Election with all stakeholders to ensure an adequate and reliable electric power supply before, during and after the May 9 elections.

“I assure with the help of everybody, the energy family, the Task Force, kung sakali man may mangyari, lang pinaka-target ay walang (in case of a power shortage, the target is there would be no) failure of elections because of power deficiency,” Monsada said.

Rep. Umali said he called the consultative meeting with the stakeholders to rule out speculations that the elections may be cheated in situations of power outages.

“This is important, to keep everyone on board, to keep the public well-informed, na mayroong ginagawa ang gobyerno (that the government is addressing these issues). We will have less of these chismis (controversies) that [happen] every election time,” Umali said. RAM