The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and the Department of Energy (DOE) are calling on more companies to join the government's Interruptible Load Program (ILP) to help ensure power supply sufficiency throughout the dry season.
The support of ILP participants has proven to be highly critical in avoiding rotating power interruptions in the Meralco franchise area even after the Luzon Grid was placed under Red Alert for three days last week.
"We call for your support and cooperation for the country's objective of having continuous power supply by participating in the ILP and being part of the solution to the power supply challenges," Irma Exconde, DOE Director of the Electric Power Industry Management Bureau said during a webinar organized by Meralco for its enterprise customers.
The ILP is a voluntary and demand-side management program that calls on big power consumers to temporarily de-load from the grid and use their generating units or reduce their operations when there is insufficient power supply.
Since 2014, it has been implemented 27 times in the Meralco franchise area. Last week alone, the program spared around 1.9 million households from power interruptions.
"Bayanihan continues to be our battle cry this year as we all try to do our part to mitigate the impact of El Niño on the power sector," said Meralco vice president and head of Utility Economics Lawrence Fernandez.
POWER CALL Manila Electric Co. personnel conduct a regular maintenance check of overhead electric power meters along Mel Lopez Boulevard in Manila. Meralco and the Department of Energy are calling on more companies to join the government's Interruptible Load Program to help ensure power supply sufficiency throughout the dry season. PNA
Meralco further emphasized the beneficial outcome of the support of commercial and industrial customers enrolled in the program.
"The active participation of ILP participants in the Meralco franchise area in recent days is worth highlighting as it has greatly helped relieve pressure from the power grid, sparing thousands of small businesses and households from rotating power interruptions," said Meralco Vice President and Head for Enterprise and National Government Ma. Cecilia M. Domingo said.
Meralco is proactively engaging more customers to increase the available de-loading capacity under the program. As of April 2024, the total capacity available for de-loading in Meralco's area is more than 500 MW from more than 100 companies.
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