ROBINSONS Land Corp. (RLC) has enrolled 10 of its malls in the government’s interruptible load program (ILP) to ease power demand from the electricity grid when supply is deficient.
In a media release on Tuesday, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said the power distributor and RLC teamed up to boost available standby supply under a deal forged on June 14.
RLC Executive Vice-President Faraday D. Go said the company “has always been a steadfast partner of the government and fully supports the ILP program to help address power and energy contingency requirements, should the need arise.”
The 10 Robinsons Malls enrolled in the program have committed a total capacity of 31 megawatts (MW) for ILP, which is a demand-side management scheme led by the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission.
During supply deficiency and imminent power interruptions, the malls will be asked to temporarily deload from the grid and use their generator sets.
The 10 malls are Robinsons Place Malolos, Robinsons Town Mall Malabon, Robinsons Place Manila-Main, Robinsons Place Manila-Midtown, Robinsons Place Las Pinas, Robinsons Place Antipolo, Robinsons Magnolia-Extension, Robinsons General Trias, Robinsons Galleria South, and Robinsons Tagaytay Summit.
When they deload, they can potentially spare around 124,000 households and small businesses from the disruptions of unscheduled power interruptions.
RLC is the latest addition to the 121 companies within Meralco’s franchise area to join the program. The ILP-enrolled entities have a combined de-loading capacity of about 552 MW.
“We continue to enjoin our large load customers to participate in ILP so that, in the eventuality of a crisis, we have the contingencies in place to prevent brownouts. Fortunately, the projections on the dips in power supply did not affect much of our customers, as we always find ways and means to anticipate our customers’ needs,” Meralco Chief Commercial Officer Ferdinand O. Geluz said.
RLC and Meralco have encouraged other businesses to join the program to ease power demand at times when the system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines places the grid on red alert.
Meralco, the country’s largest electric power distributor, said that while there are no immediate threats of supply deficiency, it has put in place “contingency measures that include the ILP to ensure delivery of continuous, stable, and reliable electricity service to the customers within its franchise area all year round.”
