That we’re having red alerts in the power grid now during the rainy season when demand is not quite at its peak unlike, say, during the scorching days of summer, shows that the situation is indeed precarious and is bound to get worse unless we see new power plants.
This is another major throbbing headache for Energy Secretary Raphael “Popo” Lotilla after the post-summer red alert in the grid last June.
I’m talking about Monday’s red alert status of the Luzon grid, its latest and following a weekend of blackouts that affected millions of consumers in the island.
A series of unfortunate events
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) issued the red alert after reserves breached the maintaining level of four percent of peak demand. This was due to a series of unfortunate events such as transmission line tripping, unplanned outages of power plants, and the de-rating of electricity generation of some facilities.
NGCP reported that at least seven electric generating plants had been on simultaneous forced outages leading to a loss of more than 3,400 megawatts in the power system.
Official data showed that the generating facilities on unplanned downtimes include Unit 1 of the Ayala-Aboitiz joint venture GNPower Dinginin plant; the Consunji Group’s Calaca-2 plant; San Miguel Corp.’s Masinloc 2 and 3, as well and Sual 1 and 2; and the Quezon Power plant.
Finger pointing
What happened has happened, but what follows now is a lot of finger pointing.
Industry players questioned the reliability of the power system with the transmission line tripping at a low consumption period. On the other hand, there’s that perennial problem of unplanned outages and power plants inability to be up and running immediately even after the transmission line went back to normal.
Only a thorough investigation will determine which party really is to blame for what happened, but more than that, what the past days’ incident really tells us is that our power situation is really in a fragile state.
This is serious and the writing is on the wall.
In the last 10 years, not enough power plants have been put up. We need at least 1,800 megawatts of new capacity in the Luzon Grid alone each year; some 4,000 MW for the whole country.
And yet, no new supply has come in to meet our growing demand.
We need new power plants to keep our power system stable. What is the government doing about this? We’ll have to wait and see.
‘The sky is falling’
During the Aquino administration, then energy secretary Jericho Petilla consistently sounded the alarm bells. He was like Chicken Little warning that there would be power outages. He kept on talking about conserving energy and encouraged the construction of new power plants.
These warnings, I believe, helped avert a major power crisis.
What the government should do now is to inform the public of what lies ahead, of how precarious our power situation really is and to make sure that there will be new power capacity.
This may also entail amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), which are long overdue.
Congratulations to our Filipino athletes
Now for some good news.
Big congratulations to Alexandra “Alex” Eala who became the first Filipino to win a Grand Slam singles championship at the US Open Juniors in New York City.
The 17-year-old Pinay athlete became the first Filipino to win a tennis Grand Slam girls’ singles title after beating World No. 3 Lucie Havlickova of Czech Republic in the 2022 US Open.
It’s truly a great day for Philippine sports.
President Marcos has expressed his congratulations. I hope Malacanang also sets aside a day to officially recognize our athletes for bringing immense pride to our country.
‘Herstory’
It’s good that Gabriel Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas, in House Resolution 357, recognized Eala. Brosas said Eala made yet again “herstory” by being the first Filipino to rule the US Open girls’ singles competition.
“There is a need for the national government to ensure sufficient support for Filipino athletes to enable the realization of their full potential in their respective careers in sports,” their resolution read.
Another athlete, Filipino vault star Ernest John “EJ” Obiena, meanwhile, added another gold medal to his trophies after a first-place finish in the Liechtenstein leg of the Golden Fly Series. This comes a year after he set the Asian record of 5.93 meters.
“Exactly one year ago today, I broke the 29-year-old Asian record in outdoor pole vault by jumping 5.93m,” Obiena said in a Facebook post.
Supporting Filipino athletes
Again, congratulations to our Filipino athletes. I hope the government and the private sector continue to support them in their quest for greatness in the global arena.
As we all know, sports can do wonders to a nation’s weary soul or the battered spirit of its people. It can inspire the younger generations to dream and believe in themselves. Let’s keep that faith alive. Our Filipino athletes are talented and highly-skilled. With enough support, they can certainly conquer the world and by doing so, inspire millions and millions of this country’s sons and daughters to do the same.
Iris Gonzales’ email address is eyesgonzales@gmail.com.
Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com