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MANILA, Philippines – Thirty-two more firms have been asked to sign up until December 1 for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Interruptible Load Program (ILP).
The DOE said on Tuesday, November 18, that it is encouraging the establishments to be participate in the ILP, for a combined capacity of 61.53 megawatts (MW).
The ILP works by calling on business customers with loads of at least 1MW to run their own generator sets, if needed, instead of drawing power from the grid.
With the ILP, power supply from the grid that will not be consumed by participating customers will be available for use by other customers within the franchise area. Through this, the aggregate demand for power from the system will be reduced to a more manageable level, helping ensure the availability of supply during the anticipated power crisis next year.
Though the DOE is seeking more ILP participants, the program will only be part of the answer to the looming power shortage next summer. The ILP also does not guarantee zero brownouts because it will only be implemented during the red alert level of the power supply.
A red alert is up when there is a supply deficiency.
The DOE also commended the 30 business establishments that immediately responded to calls to become ILP participants.
To date, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said it already signed up 176MW of committed interruptible load (CIL) capacity from various ILP participants.
“We are in negotiations with customers for a potential of another 64MW. These would total 240MW in all,” Meralco utility economics head Lawrence Fernandez said.
The ILP list is growing due to the DOE’s initiatives and promotions to secure commitments from other potential ILP participants.
“In every meeting, we need to ensure that they will understand our side and let them know how important this program is not only to their cause but to the people as well. It’s a matter of explaining it well and ensuring that they will sign the participation papers at the end of the meeting,” DOE Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said.
On November 14, a resolution was filed by the House Committee on Energy proposing that the government reimburse companies enrolled in the ILP.
On Tuesday, November 18, the House panel on energy voted in favor of the resolution granting President Benigno Aquino III emergency powers to help solve the looming power shortage in the summer of 2015. – Rappler.com
Interior of Robinsons Place shopping mall image via Shutterstock
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