Over one million customers within the Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO) franchise experienced power interruption on Saturday as the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Luzon Grid on Red Alert. 

In an advisory over the weekend, the Department of Energy (DOE) said that the N

GCP declared a red alert on the Luzon Grid last Saturday (June 18) at 2:45 PM due to “generation deficiency.” 

In a separate statement, MERALCO said that it implemented an automatic load dropping (ALD) in portions of Caloocan, Valenzuela, Malabon, Manila, Makati, Muntinlupa, Las Pinas, as well as nearby provinces Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite as early as 1:53 PM, affecting 1.6 million customers. 

MERALCO experienced a 1,200-megawatt decrease in its load during the red alert. Power was restored in the franchise area at 2:11 PM. 

NGCP reported that its Hermosa-Limay 230-kilovolt lines 1 and 2 tripped causing a grid disturbance, isolating the two power plants located in Bataan from the Luzon Grid. 

“This prompte

d the DOE to instruct the NGCP to immediately resolve the transmission line issues, submit to the DOE the list of affected customers that experienced power interruption, and explain the details of the incident. The DOE has also initiated its coordination with the Energy Regulatory Commission in addressing this matter,” the DOE said. 

The NGCP said that the lines were restored on Saturday at around 2:35 PM and 2:44 PM.