The Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (NOCECO) has been implementing rotational brownouts in its service area in response to directives from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to reduce electricity demand amid tight power supply in the Visayas.
NOCECO Transmission and Distribution Department Manager Engineer Anthony Magbanua told Brigada News on Friday, August 14, that the cooperative is complying with NGCP’s load-reduction advisories to help stabilize the Visayas Grid and prevent a possible widespread blackout.
Magbanua said the shutdown of power generators, including a power plant in Cebu, has reduced available supply across the Visayas, affecting areas in Negros, Panay and Iloilo.
“What NGCP is doing to stabilize the grid is advising the distribution utilities to reduce power load, because if that is not done, once the supply is lacking, the power demand increases and could cause a massive total blackout,” Magbanua said.
Whenever an advisory is issued, NOCECO reduces its load by implementing scheduled power interruptions on selected feeders within its franchise area.
The distribution utility (DU) serves 13 towns and 4 cities in southern Negros Occidental.
Magbanua said the load-reduction measures are usually implemented from around 2 or 3 pm until 9 or 10 pm, when electricity demand peaks as commercial establishments remain operational while households also increase their consumption.
“All establishments are operating up to nighttime and meet peak load, where all residentials are also using power,” he said.
To distribute the impact of the load reduction, NOCECO has been implementing rotational brownouts lasting about three to four hours, with at least two feeders taken offline at different periods during the day.
The situation comes as the Visayas faces a relatively narrow power buffer. NGCP’s latest outlook showed 2,558 megawatts of available generating capacity against a projected peak demand of 2,330 MW for Saturday, August 15, leaving an operating margin of only 228 MW.
Magbanua, however, said NOCECO cannot determine when the rotational brownouts will end because the problem is largely linked to power generation rather than the distribution system.
He said the cooperative can only respond to NGCP’s directives while affected generating plants remain offline.
Magbanua expressed hope that the affected power plants will resolve their issues and resume operations soon, allowing NOCECO to restore normal distribution and gradually end the rotational brownouts.*
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, contributes to Negros Daily Bulletin, and maintains a blog on Medium.