Luzon power supply to normalize by month's end

Power supply in Luzon would normalize before the end of the month with the completion of maintenance work on three power plants, a Malacanang official said.

Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza said on April 22 the Department of Energy assured him rotating blackouts experienced in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon were temporary and the result of maintenance work on the Pagbilao, Ilijan and Sta. Rita power plants.

He said the maintenance work on these power plants were earlier set for May “but were moved ahead of schedule because of the elections.”

According to the DOE, the Pagbilao plant will be back on line by April 22, the Sta. Rita plant on April 19, and the Ilijan plant on April 29.

While the power outages in Luzon were caused by the preventive maintenance work on the power plants, other parts of the country, particularly Mindanao, have been experiencing far more serious problems because of the long dry spell caused by the El Niño phenomenon.

Mendoza said the latest advisory on El Niño showed that the dry spell would most likely continue until the latter part of June.

If ever there would be rainfall this month, Mendoza said it would be way below normal.