Navigating Crisis: Secretary Lotilla’s Address on Red and Yellow Power Alerts
OPENING STATEMENT OF SECRETARY RAPHAEL P.M. LOTILLA DURING THE PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE RED AND YELLOW ALERTS
19 April 2024
Thank you very much and Magandang umaga sa ating lahat. I wish to thank and commend all stakeholders in the power sector for their cooperation in avoiding power interruptions despite the Red and Yellow Alerts that were declared starting Tuesday of this week. Alerts are given in order to inform and prepare all stakeholders including distribution utilities, power plants and the public to help in managing demand and supply whenever there are thin reserves.
As experienced in the last few days, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) which is our system operator gave timely advance notice of Red and Yellow Alerts and that is commendable. Red Alerts are issued when regulating reserves fall below 4% of demand and all parties have to be alerted. The NGCP’s timely notice enabled in turn the distribution utilities and large consumers to prepare for activating the interruptible load program whenever necessary. Yellow alerts on the other hand are issued when reserves fall below the supply provided by the single largest power plant in the grid. This contingent reserve is intended to ensure that should the largest power plant go offline for any reason, there are sufficient reserves to make up for the shortfall.
Red and Yellow Alerts need not result in actual power interruptions if the power demand can be correspondingly reduced to respond to the decrease in power supply.
Whenever Red and Yellow Alerts are issued, let us not shoot the messenger. What is important is the message and the significance of the message. We, the consuming public, can assist in this effort to reduce or decrease or manage the demand by reducing our power consumption during the hours covered by the Red and Yellow Alerts and during the peak hours in general.
The performance of the grid, particularly of thermal power plants, is affected by extreme high temperatures as we have experienced for the several past weeks. Nevertheless, power plants must meet the allowable outages or power interruptions limits set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
We at the Department of Energy (DOE), particularly through our Electric Power Industry Management Bureau are coordinating with the all parties, including other agencies of government, particularly with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) on the extended forecast for the heat index and other significant weather conditions. This would allow us to coordinate, if advisable, with the Department of Agriculture (DA) for possible rain seeding. Every 1 degree change in temperature corresponds to a 100 megawatt change in demand.
We are also coordinating with the ILP participants and the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) which has the biggest ILP program, to ensure that they have adequate fuel supply to allow them continued participation in the ILP. Through our Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB), we have alerted the oil companies so that we can ensure their ILP customers of adequate fuel supply.
Just like in the past, we are also coordinating with the MMDA for exemptions, if needed to the travel ban on delivery trucks for fuel supply.
For our consumers, this is also a reminder that all of us can help. When we reduce our power consumption during peak hours or during the Read and Yellow Alerts period, we are also helping to reduce the price or the bills that we will be receiving at the end of the billing period. ##
