By Dhel Sue Cabiara and Lealina Evangeline A. Reyes
“Brownout na sad?” (There’s a brownout again?)
For about a month, these words have been repeated almost on a daily basis by people around Negros Oriental. While brownouts are not new occurrences in the Philippines, power outages happening simultaneously all throughout the day can become great inconveniences.
Since late August, the Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative II (NORECO II) has issued series of advisories on possible rotational power interruptions, following alert warnings from the National Grid Coorporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
This resulted in interruptions affecting areas across NORECO II’s franchise in Pamplona, Tanjay City , Amlan, San Jose, Sibulan, Dumaguete City, Valencia, Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita, Siaton, Sta. Catalina, Bayawan City, and Basay.
According to NORECO II General Manager Fe Marie Dicen-Tagle, a lack of supply in the Visayas electricity grid prompted the cooperative to undergo manual load dropping, commonly called rotational brownouts, mandated by NGCP as a temporary power-shedding measure.
“When there is insufficiency in supply, the first one to come in is supposed to be the reserved power that NGCP gets […] but because the reserve cannot even cover for the total lacking supply in the entire grid, they resorted to […] manual load dropping or effecting rotational brownouts,” Dicen-Tagle explained.
While schedules vary, these outages last three hours on average, taking effect almost every other day, and oftentimes unexpected. However Dicen-Tagle clarified that the power cuts are intended to be rotational to ensure equal distribution of the manual load drop.
“Kung i-steady namo ang schedule, meaning some of others will only experience it every night […] some others in the afternoon, dili pod pwede. So, it has to be na i-rotate pod namo para naay hustisya—everyone will actually experience the brownout at any given time but more predictable because you have your groups,” she said.
Data from NGCP showed that since Sept. 6, the Visayas grid has been under daily red alert, with its 39th alert issued on Sept. 14 due to a 1,075.2 megawatt power shortage. This was caused by 12 plants being forced offline and 13 others operating below capacity.
The red alert indicates that the power supply is insufficient to meet the electrical demands.
The ongoing lack of supply is also caused by shutdowns of two coal-fired power plants units in Toledo Power Corp. and one from Panay Energy Development Corp. Two more power plants from Cebu and one from Iloilo are also on shutdown, while import of power from Mindanao has been limited.
Dicen-Tagle furthered that with some of the remaining plants operating on decreased capacity, supply became insufficient to keep the transmission stable.
“In fact [for] the grid to operate properly, it has to have excess supply over the demand so that we are sure that we can cater to the needs of the people. But what is happening right now is that with all the plants out, the grid supply is lacking,” Dicen-Tagle said.
NGCP has separately echoed this diagnosis. In a statement addressing claims that the Visayas power woes stemmed mainly from transmission constraints
Cynthia Alabanza NGCP Spokesperson said transmission cannot create supply, stressing that building more interconnection capacity alone will not resolve the region’s broader resource adequacy problem without dependable generation capacity to back it.
DIcen-Tagle added that NORECO II can “lobby for immediate action on this situation but don’t have control over the solution of this particular [problem].”
To minimize impact on residences, NORECO II scheduled the power interruption by cluster, grouping barangays and municipalities by substation. This arrangement allows homeowners to anticipate the outages and make necessary preparations.
However, Dicen-Tagle clarified that the unexpected outages are dependent on NGCP’s notice, which can arrive with little warning.
“The actual order comes every hour or even up to 30 minutes […] So, ing-ana nga murag ma–short mi usahay […] Because the advice on the actual low drop in will only come an hour before or up to 30 minutes before the actual interruption,” she said.
The rotational brownouts are a measure mandated by NGCP to balance electricity demand and supply in real time, reducing power load through rotational interruptions.
While parts of Negros experience its days in darkness, there is a hope that light is coming soon. Dicen-Tagle shared that in October, one plant will go back online and others may follow after. As more generating capacity returns to the grid, manual load dropping can be reduced, limiting brownouts to periods when electricity supply is insufficient rather than making them a daily occurrence.
Dicen-Tagle added that by Oct. 3, solar batteries will be deployed to store power for nighttime use to ensure that there would be energy during evenings when power supply surges. She also assured that according to the Secretary of Energy, there will be no more rotational brownouts by Christmas.
As power outages persist across Negros, NORECO II is urging consumers to conserve electricity and reduce their consumption to help keep demand within the limits of the available power supply.
“It means extra work from all of us but we have to come together to help the grid kay dili man nato controllable ang supply ug ang pag-operate sa grid. But we can control our demand. That one we can help,” Dicen-Tagle shared.
For now, flickering lights remain a reminder of the current state of electrification stretched beyond its capacity. While the solution ultimately rests beyond the control of consumers and NORECO II, conserving electricity remains one way residents can help ease the strain on the grid.
