Higher ECQ power demand, summer heat cause outages

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is facing unprecedented power interruption woes as Metro Manila and nearby provinces undergo strict quarantine measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The situation was worsened by increasing daytime temperatures, which forced Filipino households staying at home to use cooling appliances longer.

Several residential areas within the Meralco franchise area have experienced isolated power interruptions lasting for a few minutes to hours as distribution facilities succumbed to hot weather and a surge in demand from families forced to stay indoors.

Social media platforms were flooded with complaints of overloaded transformers and blackouts lasting for hours and even days.

Based on data gathered from Meralco, the power distributor experienced 52 tripping events, of which 46 were only momentary while six were sustained interruptions since May 6.

The momentary interruption affected 608,253 customers, while 137,713 customers experienced sustained interruption for at least five minutes.

Bulk of affected customers are located in Metro Manila, followed by Cavite and Bulacan.

The situation is something new for Meralco as this is the first time Filipinos are forced to stay home during summer.

Meralco cited the extreme heat, with heat index at more than 40 degrees Celsius, and coupled with higher usage of appliances as among the reasons for these power interruptions.

“The extremely hot weather which is registering, based on news reports, as high as 40 degrees Celsius is causing a sharp rise and unusually high increase in consumption of our residential consumers many of whom are forced to stay home due to the enhanced community quarantine,” Meralco spokesperson and public information office head Joe Zaldarriaga said in a text message.

Data from Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) affirmed the increasing temperature, noting that the highest heat index in the country was recorded in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte at 53 degrees Celsius last Wednesday.

Last Thursday, Sangley Point in Cavite registered the highest heat index forecast at 42 degrees Celsius, while maximum heat index may reach 41.5 at the Science Garden in Quezon City, 41.2 in Port Area, Manila and Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, the state weather bureau said.

With increasing temperature, locked down households use their air-conditioning units and fans for extended hours.

“At home, the behavior is more power consumption and usage by turning on household appliances especially cooling devices like air-conditioning units and electric fans at almost the same time and at longer duration,” Zaldarriaga said.

“This, in turn, is stretching our facilities to unprecedented levels sometimes resulting in what we term as localized outages,” he said.

Meralco also cited flying of kites as a reason for power interruptions.

On its Facebook page, Meralco said a kite entangled in its power lines caused blackout for 1.9 million households and 33 hospitals.

The Department of Energy (DOE) also pointed to illegal connections in some areas as causing instances of blackouts.

The agency warned that pilferage, which causes power interruptions and fire, is punishable by law.

It said Republic Act 7832, or the Anti-Pilferage Act, strictly prohibits illegal connections and the theft of electric power transmission and distribution lines and materials.

The DOE urged consumers to report pilferage incidents to their respective distribution utilities.

As of this writing, the number of affected Meralco customers has gone down to 48,577.

Meralco said it is working double time to immediately repair the affected facilities and the uprating of capacity, if needed, and sought for the understanding of consumers.

“The restoration time for these interruptions usually lasts a longer duration because we need to replace the transformers and reinforce or, if needed, replace the secondary wires,” Zaldarriaga said.

“We continue to work 24/7 to effect restoration works. Note though that our workforce continues to maintain safety precautions and social distancing protocols while working on our facilities,” he said.