Negros Power expects improved electricity supply despite potential year-end brownouts

Negros Electric and Power Corp. (Negros Power) expects the frequency and duration of manual load dropping, or rotational brownouts, to decrease in its central Negros franchise area this month as power plants resume operations.

Joe-Mel Zaporteza, vice president and chief operating officer of Negros Power, noted that the power situation has improved compared to August, partly because summer peak demand has subsided and several generation companies are returning online. However, he cautioned that rotational brownouts may persist through the end of the year depending on generation capacity availability.

The supply constraints have been driven by forced outages and scheduled maintenance at several power plants in Cebu and Panay. Since May 13, Negros Power has recorded 44 manual load-dropping incidents. The company noted that three coal-fired generating units in the Visayas grid, with a combined capacity of 488 megawatts, have been on forced outage since mid-May, while an additional 268 MW of capacity has been operating below its rated capacity.