DOE hopeful no power interruption today

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Energy is optimistic that with the expected low demand for power on weekends, sports fans will get to watch the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito fight on television without any interruption.

DOE Regional Director Antonio Labios said the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid had experienced a slight negative power reserve of 49 megawatts, but is optimistic the figure will go down by today.

“Hopefully this will decrease (the negative reserve) tomorrow,” Labios said yesterday.

He said that usually, power demand during weekends have less demand.

Ethel Natera, spokesperson of the Visayan Electric Company, echoed Labios’ statement that there is usually a low demand for power on weekends, especially on Sundays.

“We normally don’t have power supply shortage on a Sunday unless dunay other emergency outages which cannot be predicted,” Natera said.

VECO has a total power demand 270 megawatts during peak period in their franchise area.

Natera said earlier that the no power interruption will occur as long as the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid will continue to provide electricity.

VECO, the country’s second biggest power distributor, serves the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay and Naga and four municipalities of the greater part of Metro Cebu – Liloan, Consolacion, Minglanilla and San Fernando.

Its franchise service covers an area of about 672 square kilometers with an estimated population of 1.73 million.

The CNP grid has been on a “red alert” for the past years due to high demand for power. (FREEMAN)