Oro brownouts lessened, thanks to rains

• Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2015/07/26/oro-brownouts-lessened-thanks-rains-421156
• Sunday, July 26, 2015

By Froilan Gallardo

AFTER several days of rotational brownouts, Cagayan de Oro residents heaved a sigh after the city was spared of brownouts last weekend, thanks to the rains that filled Pulangi River in Bukidnon.

Mindanao Authority Development (MinDA) director for Investment Promotions and Public Affairs Romeo Montenegro said heavy rains in Bukidnon in the past few days allowed the Pulangi hydroelectric plants to hike their power production up to 186 megawatts last weekend.

Montenegro said production from the Lanao hydro plants, source of Mindanao’s electricity, also increased, lowering the energy deficiency to just about 254 megawatts last weekend.

“So long as the deficiency is below the 300 megawatts, we will have no brownouts,” he said.

Montenegro said modular generating sets bought by Mindanao’s electric cooperatives will take up the slack in energy deficiency.

But Ralph Paguio, vice president of the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company, said the city is still being threatened by sudden loss of available electricity and could experience rotational brownouts this week.

“So long as Steag is out of the grid, we are not out of the woods yet,” Paguio said.

Steag State power Inc. announced last week that it has put one of its 210-megawatt coal plants under preventive repair in the next few days or until August 16.