CEBU CITY, June 6 (PIA) — The Department of Energy (DOE) Visayas assured to provide stable and adequate power supply at the vaccine storage areas and vaccination sites in the Visayas.
In an interview during the Straight from the Source program of the Philippine Information Agency Region 7, DOE Visayas Chief Energy Industry Management Division Engr. Rey Maleza said they instructed all the power industry participants, especially the power plants and distribution facilities, to assist the Department of Health (DOH) and the local health facilities for a successful vaccination rollout.
Maleza added they also requested the local government units (LGUs), especially the local health officers, to coordinate with the distribution facilities to identify the vaccine storage and vaccination center.
“In case there is a scheduled or sudden power interruption in our area, the distribution facilities will immediately identify those with the vaccine areas and give them priority,” Maleza said.
So far, DOE Visayas has not received reports on any power-related issues during the vaccination rollout.
Maleza explained that the local distribution utilities maintain constant power supply especially in the vaccination areas, but in cases of power interruption, they should immediately take action to restore the power supply.
Power demand in Cebu and the entire country went down by 50 percent during the pandemic, he added.
“This is because many of the commercial and industrial establishments have stopped their operations since the health emergency was declared last year,” he explained.
“It is only in May this year that the demand slowly increased, since a lot of establishments are now back in their operations, but it’s not much of the projection of what we are expecting for power demand this year,” Maleza said.
Although residential power demand is increasing as most people are staying at home, Maleza said it has not surpassed the drop in power demand in the commercial and industrial sectors. (hfg/PIA7) -rir
