The Department of Energy (DOE) announced Wednesday that they are confident that there will be no brownouts on election day and week.
According to Energy Undersecretary Wimpy Fuentebella, the government has prepared for any power supply problems in the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao grid elections.
“Sapat ang suplay sa darating na eleksiyon at pagkatapos pa nito….Wala po tayong dapat ikabahala,” said Fuentebella.
“Kung mayroon man eventuality ay nakahanda rin ang DOE at mga katuwang na agency, at patuloy ang coordination natin sa Comelec (Commission on Elections),” he added.
The DOE will also buy solar lamps to use in case of brownouts.
“Minsan kahit may battery ang vote counting machines, na kayang tumakbo 12 to 14 hours, at back-up battery, nahihirapan [ang] Board of Election Inspectors na magtrabaho kung hindi sapat ang ilaw,” explained Fuentebella.
Meralco’s command center is also ready, which will receive calls when there is a power outage.
More than 3,000 polling precincts and canvassing areas are covered by the franchise area that Meralco has to guard.
“I’m confident maitatawid natin nang matiwasay ito,” said Meralco Spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga.
Zaldarriaga also asked the guards at the polling center not to bring other appliances that could cause overloading.
DOE confident there will be no brownouts on election day
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is skeptical about the power supply, especially with the possibility of simultaneous power plant failures.
“‘Di natin mapi-predict kung kailangan mangyayari ‘yan pero nakikita nating nangyayari talaga. Nangyari ‘yan noong May to June 2021. Nakita rin natin malaki nawala sa sistema [noong] Enero this year at Marso 2022, na nagka-yellow alert,” said NGCP Spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza.
Alabanza advised the public to do ironing and laundry simultaneously on weekends without interfering with industrial and commercial activities.
“Malaki maitutulong niyan,” she said.
May usually records the strongest power consumption due to the weather’s heat.
But there are no public and private offices on election day, so power consumption is not expected to be that high.
In the 2022 elections, at least 67.5 million Filipinos will be eligible to vote.
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