The Department of Energy does not expect any power interruption because of the generally low actual demand and the availability of 247.5 MW under the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) within the MERALCO franchise area.

The issued Red Alert NOTICE for 1100H to 1600H intervals (11:01-4:00PM) was lifted at 1418H (2:18PM). The system is still on a Yellow Alert NOTICE from 0900H to 1000H and 1500 to 2100H (9:01-10:00AM and 3:01-9:00PM) caused by the outage and deration of following generators that resulted to the thinning of reserves:

A total of 819 MW capacity from three power plants is on planned outage as of today.

The distribution utilities, specifically MERALCO, have already notified the ILP participants to activate their self-generating facilities (SGFs) during the mentioned intervals which resulted to the de-loading of 247.5 MW under item number 1 above. This, along with the energy efficiency and conservation program exercised by the customers, may prevent the potential power interruption within its franchise area.

The DOE and the energy players are closely monitoring the increases in demand and the power plants that are expected to be in.

The other strategies considered by the power industry players include the management of plant maintenance schedules, the optimization of existing hydroelectric power plants, the upgrading of the electricity facilities, the preparation of available generator sets for unforeseen outages, the increased participation of big establishments in the Interruptible Load Program, as well as the continued call for an energy efficiency lifestyle for electricity end-users.

The DOE, through its Energy Utilization Management Bureau (EUMB) reiterates the importance of its SAVE SAVE SAVE energy efficiency campaign, not only to incur more savings, but also to ensure uninterrupted electricity services this summer season.

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