A PHILIPPINE SENATOR has called on the Department of Energy (DoE) to ensure that the scheduled shutdown of natural gas power plants remains on track and would not be extended.
“We recognize that preventive maintenance is critical to deter unplanned downtime, which adversely affects businesses and inconveniences energy consumers. We are hoping that the DoE would be able to ensure that this activity would not cause undue loss of power,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said in a statement on Sunday.
Last week, the DoE announced that South Premiere Power Corporation (SPPC) and Excellent Energy Resources Inc. (EERI), jointly owned by Meralco PowerGen, San Miguel Global Power, and Aboitiz Power, will be conducting scheduled maintenance from March 29 to March 31.
The energy department also called on Luzon consumers to implement energy conservation measures throughout the weekend to ensure sufficient supply.
Mr. Gatchalian added that the DoE should closely monitor the scheduled maintenance of the power plants to ensure that they will be completed on time.
He said that consumers should practice energy efficiency and conservation measures to “help shore up the available energy supply and prevent power interruptions.”
“Such conservation efforts would also generate savings for consumers,” he added. – Adrian H. Halili
