MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno S. Aquino III on Wednesday asked the public to conserve energy as major power generation plants in Luzon undergo a scheduled maintenance shutdown.
In an interview with reporters at the Manila North Harbor, the President said the scheduled maintenance shutdown of power plants in Luzon will however not result in brownouts.
There could be problems in power supply in Luzon if some plants, which are not scheduled to go on maintenance shutdown, bog down, the President said, citing information from the Department of Energy.
A delay in preventive maintenance of the plants that are running at this time could result in breakdowns, he said.
Consumers could do their share by conserving energy, the President said. For instance, households should adjust the temperature settings of their air conditioning units to save electricity, he said.
Air conditioning units use up about 3,000 watts per day compared to a refrigerator, which uses up only 180 watts, he said, adding that making adjustments on the use of air conditioners would be a big thing.
He noted that the small gap between power reserves and the anticipated peak in power use could lead to brownouts.
Energy supply will be critical in May, the President said.
He however assured that the government is addressing the situation and one of the measures it is taking is to make the Malaya power plants operational.
“Yung Malaya is actually the standby. Malaya, this is in Pililla, Rizal; pinapatakbo na ‘yan. Hindi normally pinapatakbo ‘yan pero ngayon medyo matagal-tagal na ring nakatakbo to supplement (the available power supply),” the President said.
“So, hopefully the maintenance will go on schedule. Matatapos ‘yon at makaka-online ulit lahat ng mga hindi scheduled na mag-offline, tapos samahan na rin natin ng pagtitipid ng paggamit ng kuryente, hindi tayo aabot ng brownout,” the President added.
