Consumers see red on power grid’s red and yellow alert

Wazzup Pilipinas!?




The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a statement on April 01, 2024 stating that there will be enough supply of power during the dry months. However, just this week, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Luzon power grid under yellow and red alert level due to 19 Luzon power plants on forced outage and three operating on derated capacities.

Reacting to this development, Bas Umali, National Coordinator of energy consumer group Kuryente.org, said:

“The Department of Energy, being one of the managers of the energy sector, should do their work diligently. The Department’s previous pronouncement left the public unprepared for power outages that threaten our livelihood, our households as well as the well-being and health of our families and communities. What assurance can the DoE provide the suffering public that we will not experience extended power outages, especially in this heat that reaches 48 degrees Celsius in some areas?

“We as consumers need a venue and mechanism that would allow meaningful participation of different players within the energy sector. This venue will ensure that all stakeholders are properly represented to air their concerns and opinion related technical and non-technical matters, finding solutions through a collective and inclusive lens. We cannot allow that every year, we are unprepared for situations that we know will occur regularly.

“In the era of climate crisis, we are now living in a reality of extremes - extreme heat and extreme typhoons. We need the government and the entire energy sector to get its act together and deliver quality energy service that we, the consumers, pay for with our hard earned money.”

Kuryente.org is an energy consumer welfare group.