MANILA, Philippines – As the Luzon grid struggles to keep up with power demand during summer, tycoon Manny Pangilinan offers a solution: build more power plants.

Pangilinan said during the sidelines of a press conference on Thursday, April 11, that the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), which he serves as chairman, already discussed the power problem with government officials. He noted that more plants was the “only solution” he could think of.

“We have a number of power plants on the board for approval. Even if you get an approval today, it takes a couple of years to build it,” he added.

Pangilinan also expressed concern over the impact of El Niño, citing the phenomenon’s unpredictability.

Meralco is getting into renewable energy projects, but Pangilinan said it would take years to build the facilities.

Meralco has implemented rotational brownouts as the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines raised the red alert status for the Luzon grid.

As for Pangilinan’s water company Maynilad, he said he is quite certain that it will not encounter problems despite the scorching summer heat. 

Maynilad announced water supply interruptions during Holy Week for network enhancement activities. – Rappler.com