Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday called on the energy sector and other stakeholders to ensure uninterrupted and reliable power supply as the government beefs up its vaccination program.
Gatchalian said the country cannot afford to have brownouts during this time when vaccines need to be stored in specific cold conditions or refrigerated to maintain their efficacy.
He made the call amid reports of a series of forced power outages in the Luzon grid.
Electricity demand is usually higher during the summer months and as such, the reserve margin is thinner, if not insufficient.
Data provided by the Department of Energy showed that for the billing period February 26 to March 25, there were 15 unplanned outages due to excessive oil leaks, high turbine vibration, and other technical problems while there were seven planned outages.
The Senate Energy Committee chairperson also urged generation companies to defer to a latter date any planned maintenance shutdowns if possible.
“These days, we could ill afford any power interruption as most workers, even government employees are on a work-from-home scheme, some on distance learning and doing online business transactions,” he said.
“The wellbeing of the general public is of paramount importance as new cases of COVID-19 infections remain at an average of 12,000 daily,” Gatchalian added.