Post by Paddy by Grace on Mar 5, 2010 12:14:57 GMT -7
www.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/world/asia/05phils.html
MANILA — This capital city and several neighboring provinces will experience blackouts in the coming days as the country grapples with a drought that has devastated more than a dozen provinces, drying up rivers and reducing the water levels in lakes behind hydroelectric dams.
The power failures will occur in several areas of Manila on a rotating basis and should last no more than an hour, according to officials of Meralco, the private company that supplies electricity to city.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Thursday that she would declare a crisis in the southern region of Mindanao, where energy shortages have been severe. In recent weeks, the region has been hit by power failures lasting several hours each day.
The National Grid Corporation said Mindanao’s power deficiency last week was 350 megawatts. On Wednesday the shortfall increased to 578 megawatts.
Mrs. Arroyo’s move allows the government to tap private power companies to help generate more power, or it can build its own additional generators.
The drought has also damaged crops worth more than $61 million, the Agriculture Department said.
The Philippines, the world’s largest importer of rice, has already imported an additional 2.4 million tons because of the drought.
MANILA — This capital city and several neighboring provinces will experience blackouts in the coming days as the country grapples with a drought that has devastated more than a dozen provinces, drying up rivers and reducing the water levels in lakes behind hydroelectric dams.
The power failures will occur in several areas of Manila on a rotating basis and should last no more than an hour, according to officials of Meralco, the private company that supplies electricity to city.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Thursday that she would declare a crisis in the southern region of Mindanao, where energy shortages have been severe. In recent weeks, the region has been hit by power failures lasting several hours each day.
The National Grid Corporation said Mindanao’s power deficiency last week was 350 megawatts. On Wednesday the shortfall increased to 578 megawatts.
Mrs. Arroyo’s move allows the government to tap private power companies to help generate more power, or it can build its own additional generators.
The drought has also damaged crops worth more than $61 million, the Agriculture Department said.
The Philippines, the world’s largest importer of rice, has already imported an additional 2.4 million tons because of the drought.