ILOILO City — The magnitude 6.9 earthquake that rattled northern Cebu has rippled across the Visayas not just through aftershocks but through the region’s power lines, forcing 27 power plants into sudden shutdowns and pushing the grid into a precarious yellow alert status.
Mayor Raisa Treñas appealed to residents to cut back on electricity use as the Visayas grid now struggles with a massive supply shortfall following the quake.
“We appeal to everyone to conserve energy and avoid unnecessary electricity use during this period to help ensure a stable supply for all,” she said in a statement.
According to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the quake knocked out around 1,444.1 megawatts (MW) of supply, with 27 plants forced offline, 16 others already unavailable even before the incident, and one operating on reduced capacity.
In total, some 1,654.7 MW remains unavailable to the grid.
“A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement,” NGCP explained.
Peak demand in the Visayas currently stands at 1,839 MW, only slightly below the available capacity of 1,888 MW.
Angel Tan, spokesperson for More Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power), said their team is closely tracking the situation. For now, she noted, “they have no communication from NGCP for the implementation of possible manual load dropping.”
Tan likewise urged consumers to be proactive, saying power users should remain mindful of their consumption.
She added that MORE Power’s inspection showed no damage to its facilities after the quake./PN
