Rotational brownouts in Cebu possible: Visayas grid on red alert

[FILE PHOTO] In 2017, Visayan Electric Company implemented rotational brownouts, prompting students like James Patrick Lumayag, then a kindergarten 2 pupil, to study by candlelight in his house in Barangay Tinago, Cebu City. Today, April 27, 2023, the NGCP announces possible rotational brownouts in the Visayas after the Visayas grid suffered a system disturbance. [CDN FILE PHOTO]

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Consumers in Cebu and other parts of the Visayas are told to brace for possible rotational brownouts as the grid in the region suffered system disturbance on Thursday, April 27.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) confirmed in an advisory on Thursday that they raised a red-alert status in the Visayas grid after a system disturbance.

The incident was recorded around 1:51 p.m., NGCP added. As a result, they issued Yellow Alert at 2 p.m. However, they elevated it to Red Alert at 6 p.m.

“A red alert status is issued when the power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement,” they explained.

As a result, NGCP also disclosed that they might conduct  Manual Load Dropping (MLD). MLD involved ‘rotational power interruptions to maintain the integrity of the power system’, NGCP said.

Following NGCP’s announcement, Visayan Electric also issued a separate advisory, warning its consumers of a ‘high possibility of rotational brownouts.’

“Visayan Electric would like to inform its customers that there is a high possibility of implementing rotational brownouts in its franchise area due to the announcement of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) of a Red Alert status in the Visayas Grid,” Visayan Electric stated.

They also urged the public to conserve energy and use electricity wisely.

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