LAOAG CITY—The Power Task Force Election said Wednesday it has more than enough power reserve to cover Luzon before, during and after election day even as the Luzon grid had been placed on yellow alert in mid-April following annual maintenance work on several power plants.
In Luzon, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines reported it has a gross reserve of 1,822 megawatt on May 8, 2,243 MW on May 9 and 810 MW on May 10, on top of the 9,807 MW to 10,565 MW available capacity, and 7,985 MW to 9,537 MW system load during the election period.
At a forum here, the NGCP, Commission on Elections, Department of Energy and the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative presented their respective contingency plans during the synchronized local and national elections.
The power sector expressed a hundred-percent readiness in case of any untoward incident during the election period.
Benjamin Saraza, NGCP head for operations and maintenance in the Ilocos region, said contingency measures are now in place to ensure round-the-clock transmission service.
Citing the expanded transmission facilities with three highways to reach Ilocos Norte, the NGCP is confident there will be a stable power supply on election day.
The NGCP also revealed it had at least four aircraft ready for dispatch in case of emergency. They will also activate the Malaya power plant to provide back-up power supply, among others. Maintenance work has also been suspended.
Efren Balaoing, DoE director for Northern Luzon, said the Luzon grid has enough power supply but he appealed to power consumers including mall owners to conserve energy nonetheless.
“We have enough power supply in the Luzon grid on election day, even before and after,” Balaoing said.
In compliance to the memo of the National Electrification Administration and the Department of Energy, the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative represented by engineer Rodrigo Agliam, Zone 2 manager of Laoag, said they have already prepared the distribution utility, at least two weeks ahead of election day, mobilizing resources such as vehicles, materials, communication and manpower to ensure, “We are ready for this important occasion.”
Meanwhile, the Comelec said the vote counting machines with built-in power bank for Ilocos Norte already arrived and are ready for dispatch.