MANILA, Philippines- Sa gitna ng napakainit na panahon, tumaas ang demand ng elektrisidad sa bansa ngayong linggo.
Sa katunayan, umabot na ito sa “highest demand” na 14,016 megawatts, araw ng Miyerkules, nasira nito ang peak demand projection ng Department of Energy (DOE) para sa taong kasalukuyan.
Habang ang bansa ay dumaranas ng matinding init ng panahon, pabiro namang sinabi ni Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla na handa siyang “mag-rain dance.”
Sa kabilang dako, maaaring namang sabihin na ang peak demand forecast ng departamento para ngayong taon ay aabot lamang sa 13,917MW. Gayunman, ang ‘radical spike’ sa electricity consumption ay dumurog na sa naturang projections sa pamamagitan ng ‘margin of roughly 100MW.’
Ayon kay DOE Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan, “there had been unprecedented rise in temperatures, or what had been labeled as 1.5 degrees anomaly within this El Niño stricken stretch, hence that prompted further escalation on electricity demand.”
“We have already breached our projected demand at 13, 917MW wherein we already reached the 14,000MW peak level,” diing pahayag ni Marasigan.
Inihayag naman ni Marasigan na sa projections ng Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), “we could expect that this persistent high temperature will extend up to the second week of May or even until the end of May.”
Tuwirang sinabi ng DOE na ang sisindak sa bulsa ng consumers ay sa oras na matanggap na ng mga ito ang kanilang electric bill.
Partikular na sinabi naman ni Lotilla na “the heat index has remained extremely high in most areas of the country and this has resulted in increasing demand for electricity — and the higher demand in turn has been putting pressure on the prices of electricity in the spot market.”
Aniya pa, “the more expensive oil-based – particularly diesel power plants – have been dispatched and they have been helpful, but of course, they have an impact on the price.” Kris Jose
