Hike In Power Bills Looms In May — DOE

The Department of Energy has warned of higher power bills next month due to the dispatch of diesel-fired power plants.

“There will really be an impact due to the many coal fired power plants on maintenance shutdown — replaced by bunker or diesel fired power plants,” DOE Secretary Zenaida Monsada said in a press conference Monday.

She noted the Malaya oil thermal power plant was dispatching its capacity to the Luzon grid.

The secretary further said the Interruptible Load Program participants use generator sets that run on either diesel or gasoline, which are more expensive than power brought from coal-fired power plants.

Monsada explained the higher rates was necessary for the stability of power in the Luzon grid.

She pointed out the power plant operators did not force the outage of the coal-fired power plants, as the power plants were on scheduled maintenance. It is part of the efforts of the department to ensure enough power supply for the May 9 elections.

The secretary also cited the rising heat index as a factor to the higher power demand.

“If the forecast temperature is equivalent to the demand, we will not have alerts,” Monsada said.

She further said the heat index caused the grid to reach its peak demand of 9,300 megawatts, which was initially expected to occur in May.

The Luzon grid was put on red alert on April 15, due to high power demand and low power supply caused by the outage of some power plants. The Manila Electric Co. warned of rotating brownouts due to the alert.

The distribution utility earlier warned of higher power rates induced by the dry season. (PNA) BNB/JLD