Mindanao, the Philippines’ second-largest island, is expected to experience two to three hour blackouts during the coming May elections, energy officials said.
Effects of El Niño are expected to bring an energy shortage of some 144 megawatts (mW), which translates to about two to three hours of rotating brownouts on weekends during the month, an official of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.
The NGCP operates the country’s power grid, transmitting electricity generated by power plants to distribution utilities such as Meralco.
"In Mindanao, because of the effect of the El Niño, there is not enough power coming from the hydroplant so we have deficiency or shortage of power in May," Carlito Claudio, NGCP deputy assistant chief technical officer said during a House committee on energy hearing on the issue.
No power shortage is expected for Luzon and Visayas in May, he said.
Power shortages during the May elections have raised fears that the country’s first nationwide, fully-automated polls may be disrupted.
For its part, Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials have assured that the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines that will be used to count and transmit votes have back-up batteries that can last for 16 hours.
Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes is currently in Mindanao, trying to get assurance from private power companies that they will generate an additional 50 megawatts from embedded generators and another 30 megawatts from Iligan Diesel Power Plant, Pio Benavidez, senior vice president of the National Power Corporation (Napocor), said.
State-led Napocor is the country’s largest power producer.
Benavidez said the additional power will be enough to cover the four-megawatt deficiency on May 10 itself.
Resolution seeks placing Mindanao under power crisis emergency
Despite the assurance of energy officials, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said Congress should go into a special session to pass a resolution urging President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to place Mindanao under a power crisis emergency.
"The resolution will propose that the committee will call on the president to determine that there is not only imminent but an actual shortage in Mindanao and that she call a special session to be able to solve the problem of the Mindanao power crisis especially in view of the coming May 10 elections," Rodriguez said.
If the President declares a power crisis in Mindanao, Congress may empower the National Power Corp. (Napocor) to enter intro contracts with independent power producers to require them to generate additional electricity.
Entering into such contracts is currently prohibited under the law, said Rodriguez, but section 71 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) allows it.
The section provides that "upon the determination by the President of the Philippines of an imminent shortage of the supply of electricity, Congress may authorize, through a joint resolution, the establishment of additional generating capacity under such terms and conditions as it may approve."
Rodriguez said the committee should ask Reyes to recommend the declaration of a power crisis emergency to the president.
But the president's son, Energy committee chair and Pampanga Rep. Mikey Macapagal-Arroyo, said it may be too early to declare a power crisis emergency in the southern region.
"If everything fails maybe that should be considered but as of now I'd like to see what Secretary Reyes has done and will do in Mindanao right now," the presidential son said in an interview with reporters after the hearing.
Reyes' absence at the hearing earned the ire of some lawmakers who said the energy chief must be present to answer questions regarding the country's current power situation.
Parañaque City Rep. Roilo Golez questioned why Reyes flew to Mindanao at the time of the House inquiry when he had warned of the power shortages as early as September last year. [See: Brownouts to plague RP on election year -DOE chief]
"That sounds like a very convenient excuse," Golez said.
Rodriguez and Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco also demanded Reyes' presence.
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