Live in the Philippines

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Will the day come?

Infrastructure / by

Will the day come when the Philippines goes into perpetual brownout status?  Sometimes it seems so.

Firstly, for those who are new readers, let me explain what a “brownout” is.  Basically, it is what you would think of as a blackout.  Here in the Philippines, though, they call it a brownout.

When Feyma and I first moved to the Philippines in 2000, we had brownouts almost every day.  Usually it was just 30 minutes or so, but sometimes it was an hour or two.  On rare occasions it might go for a half day, but rarely longer than that.

After we lived in General Santos for two years, the brownouts were less frequent.  It was at that time that we moved to Davao City, and brownouts were very rare in Davao.  We were very thankful.  Over our years in Davao, brownouts became almost non-existent.  I think that we had years where we didn’t have more than one or two power interruptions in a full year, and they were quite short.  That’s not much difference than we experienced when living in the States, so things were quite normal.

Last year, though, brownouts started becoming more frequent, sometimes daily, although not usually.  Still, there were noticeably more brownouts in 2009 than we had been experiencing for years.  So far, there have not been many brownouts in 2010, thankfully.  However, the news is bleak.  When we watch the news on TV, we see that our friends up on Luzon are starting to experience regular brownouts now.  The problem stems from some power plants up north being out of commission, at least temporarily.  Power problems have started spreading in to the Visayas region too, and even in Northern Mindanao.  So far, here in Davao, though, we have not been hit by the latest round of brownouts.

Part of the reason that Davao has yet to be hit is because Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) has a fair amount of backup power generation capability.  In Bajada there is a large Power Generation Facility.  The Bajada generator plant is only used when power coming from the Mindanao grid is not enough for the city.  However, the Bajada plant is not enough to power the whole City, and it is also only designed for temporary use, not continuous power for the City, or even a large part of the City.  For the past two weeks, I have been told, the Bajada plant has been running 24/7, and it has basically kept Davao with power for that time.  Without the Bajada generating plant, we would have experienced many brownouts.

It is said, though, that the brownouts are coming to Davao too.  Last week it was announced that most of the Philippines will begin having scheduled brownouts soon.  They said that the scheduled brownouts will be for up to 4 hours at a time, and will also be imposed on any given area up to twice per day.  So, with that statement, any given area could experience brownouts for up to 8 hours per day!  And, that is only for scheduled brownouts!  If there is some kind of emergency – bad weather, transformer problems, power plant failure, or whatever – there could be more brownouts on top of the scheduled brownout periods.  For us in Davao, there is no way that the Bajada plant can even begin to cope with that kind of schedule of brownouts, and we will certainly be in the dark for hours at a time here.  For the rest of the country, they will have to endure the full grunt of such a large brownout schedule.

Is this any way to run a country?  The Philippines needs to do something about getting more power generation online.  Look into solar, wind and other new green power sources.  I’m no environmentalist, but these technologies, particularly solar, are very applicable for the Philippines!  They should be employed.  Other means of electricity generation should be expanded as well, and soon.

Not only do brownouts make for hot, dark and uncomfortable days for the residents, but can you imagine how businesses can cope with this?  If the businesses have to shut down, even for part of the day, they don’t need as many workers, and that means that people become unemployed.  So, no matter how you look at it, the average guy on the streets is hurt when the country can’t provide enough electricity to keep the lights on.

I hope that the Philippines can get through this period of increased brownouts without too major an issue from the lack of power.  But, the good side of this power crisis is that it might open up some eyes and get some new methods of providing power up and running in the short term.  It is badly needed.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hi Bob;
    We have brownouts 3 to 4 times a week here in Bataan, for various periods of time; we don’t even count anything less than 1/2 hour as a real brownout. Yet a mile away in Zambales they have very few in comparison and 80% of theirs are scheduled. A few of the small businesses have a back-up generator they roll out during a brownout, which makes for a very noisy walk through town in Dinalupihan. My average gas usage for my generator is 10 Liters a week, some times less, but it has become such a normal part of my life I really don’t pay that much attention to it anymore.
    Sadly during bad weather we are further punished as all our power will be diverted to Mega Manila to insure they have lights.
    I agree with you 100% that some planning for the future must start now or I could be hauling gas up the mountain everyday when the grid fails. I still like it here and I forgot how to get to the airport!

    • Hi Paul – Since I wrote this article several days back, we have had one brownout in Davao, but it was less than 5 minutes, so nothing to worry or complain about. But, everyday when I read the paper they say that the power situation is worsening. Like your experience, we will experience more brownouts so that our power can be sent to Manila to keep them comfortable there. How does that work? In the early days when I lived here and brownouts were normal here in Mindanao, those boys in Manila weren’t sending us any power over the grid!

      • I don’t think Mindanao will ever worry about supplying Manila with power, as with the geography plus distance I can’t see how you could be part of Luzon’s power grid. I’m not sure if all of Luzon is connected on one grid, but I know Bataan and Zambales are, as is those areas surrounding the NCR. I think you’re safe down south.

  2. Yeah, this is a major one for sure. The economic damage that could be caused is immense. Unfortunately, the political system in the Phils. is fraught with lack of direct accountability, so no one gets forced to resign because of their own incompetence. Still, in an election year, it gives the contenders something to campaign about, then perhaps have to follow through on their election commitments. (In an ideal world). It’s an issue here in the UK too, with power shortages expected in about ten years. At least the government has planned new power stations etc. to be onstream by then, but you are right, Bob, the Phils. has an enormous opportunity to develop and utilise environmentally friendly generation methods.

    If the brownouts are scheduled, at least that’s slightly easier to cope with, and you can always look forward to reduced electricity bills.

    • Hi Jim – Unfortunately, the “scheduled” brownouts don’t always go off on schedule! Ha ha… I’ve seen 5pm scheduled brownouts happen at 9am instead! Might as well throw the schedule out the window.

      Reduced bills? They have also announced major increases in electricity rates! Gotta make up that lost revenue from the periods when they have no power to sell! 😆

  3. I am thinking to build a house and I am now thinking seriously of ways to supplement or replace power company supplied energy with solar panels and wind turbine. Not quite sure how that works if you need to go through the power company and sell them the power you generate and then they give you a credit but if there is a brownout then it doesn’t matter or work. I Will have to see if I can have an independent generator or storage that gets its energy from the solar and wind and then it kicks in when the brownous occur. Anyone have any knowledge about this???

    • Hi richard – you are a wise man to keep this in mind when building. I particularly think that solar power would have huge benefits with the amount of sunshine we get here. If you can become energy self sufficient, or nearly so, it will certainly make for a more stress-free life here!

  4. Hi Bob – Just got back from a 2 month stay in Maramag, Bukidnon. There was an article that came out right before I left saying that the Hydro-electric plants were going offline more frequently because of the low water levels. So, it seems Bukidnon is in a bit of a drought and this is driving the scheduled brownouts in that area. I didn’t experience many long brownouts when I was there, but it seems that area will start getting hit a lot harder. And yes, I can see how they would have a major impact on businesses.

    • Hi rc – I hope you enjoyed your time in Bukidnon, it is one of my favorite parts of Mindanao! The granddaddy of hydro power in Mindanao is Maria Christina Falls in Iligan, Lanao del Norte (actually, Maria Christina is right on the border of Lanao del Norte and Sur), but there are some smaller hydro sources in Bukidnon too. Here is Davao, our rain levels are not down, we have had pretty normal levels of rain, but we have no hydro installations in this area (they are talking about changing that, though).

  5. Iligan City is having scheduled brownout because of the low water levels at Maria Christina Falls. I think brown out cycles will always come and go. It is still a third world country, machinery breaks down, red-tape is endless. But businesses are resorceful! Some years ago we had major power problems and generators sprang up next to every major building in towns and cities al over Mindanao! Some of those old generators will come back to life if the need arises. So far we do not have any scheduled brown-out here in CDO, and I hope we don’t! Hot and sticky is no fun! But… we have bought ice sticks to float in our water cooler before to keep the butter from melting, and we can do it again.

    What we need here in Mindanao right now is some serious rain!

    • Hi AmericanLola – Over on this side of the island, our rainfall seems pretty normal. I keep seeing pictures on TV of how dry the fields are in other parts of the country and it has surprised me, but pictures don’t lie! Well, I also hope we can avoid major brownout situations. I saw on TV the other day that they are trying to do some cloud seeding up north, although so far it has been unsuccessful. I hope that some solution comes, though. Power is a huge concern now, but the next thing will be water for other purposes like drinking! Farmers will also go without irrigation, which will lead to additional problems with the rice supply. The Philippines is in for (more) hard times ahead, I think! I hate to see it, though.

  6. Hi Bob – Remember Typhoon Pepeng and the infamous, erroneous release of water from the San Roque Dam in Pangasinan that flooded Morales and its SM Mall?

    Workers, frightened that the storm’s fury would burst a world class dam (built to withstand typhoon, tornado, earthquake and lightning occurring simultaneously), released water until they felt safe. Their release was a disaster for towns, businesses and residents downstream.

    The final chapter on this mistake is now being written on Luzon’s electrical power grid. Water levels behind San Roque Dam are now “too low” resulting in decreased operation of hydroturbines and power generation.

    Thanks, workers, for saving all from a burst dam – NOT!

    • Hi Paul – Wow, you know, I had forgotten about that dam incident during the typhoons. And, actuallly, unless I am mistaken, I think there were other dams that were opened as well. Yes, that was a disastrous error, and that is apparent now. Are people up north talking about that, or is the “error” forgotten, as I expect it would be? Tsk tsk tsk…

      • Hi Bob – Enough currency has moved around so that the “curriente” problem does not get attached to those dam releases. There has been some political outflow, though – someone brought the subject up when discussing an incumbent’s connection and now he’s quiet after a “near miss” 😯

        Gotta love it to live here!

  7. I heard on the radio this morning that a manufacturing company that manufactures non-fossil fuel burning generators is opening a plant near where I live. They will eventually employ 2400 and as its an expansion they most likely have a good product. I would imagine we are talking about a generator that works off of solar power. The companies name starts with an “M” but I am not sure of the complete name. It is headquartered in a west coast state-Washington I think. If any of you are interested I will do some research and provide the details. I would think with a solar powered generator you would always have some level of power into your house. If anyone is interested let me know. Ron

    • Hi Ron – It’s great to hear that some employment is being created! And, that does sound like a good product too! For me, personally, I don’t have much interest in getting a generator, although if things get bad…. maybe I’d have to reconsider!

  8. Hi Bob!
    I am a huge believer in the one two punch. A house size windmill followed up with a couple of solar panels or 3 or 4. The solar energy can be stored using a bank of batteries and the windmills these days can provide 2-3KW of current on 7 mph of wind. I know there is the upfront cost but the windmills cost is under 10K$ and is easily maintained. Your panel can be configured to switch over to the windmill when its got enough wind and perhaps with both wind/solar there can be electricity for a common household. It seems every year the wind/solar technology gets better and cheaper. My wife is from Eastern Samar and I went to a 3 story roof top to have a cold coke and was impressed with the steady wind. The owner says its almost always constant. Are there any windmills to speak of helping homeowners along? I smell opportunity!

    Mark

    • Hi mark – There is actually a company here in Davao that manufactures windmills for houses in rural areas where there is no power available. Perhaps in the near future they will end up supplying houses in the city too! For us, we rent, so I wouldn’t go to the cost of doing something like this until we build a house of our own. But, I do believe the day has come for something like this.

      • Bob could you supply the name of that windmill or wind turbine company in Davao. Also their contact info or website. thanks

        • Hi Richard – I’m sorry, I don’t know the name. It’s about an hour from my house, so it’s not convenient to just drive down there and check. Next time I am in that area, though, I’ll try to remember to check on it.

  9. Philippines has lots of sunny days but they’re short, I would think a desert area (few clouds) a bit farther from the equator would be ideal.

    Someday we’ll have wave technology 😉

    • Hi Gary – I believe that the days are long enough, but the problem with current technology is that power storage is not feasible or convenient, at least not as much as it needs to be.

  10. Bob,
    After seeing the special on Discovery about the power turbines put in New York in the East River for a chain of grocery stores I thought about Davao and the strong currents here in the gulf. Unfortunately the cost and technology is probably too much for the government and too much for a foreign group to invest. We can just hope.

  11. Hi Bob, I am quite a computer geek, currently I have 12 computers at home, 5 of them are servers running 24/7 that need to be connected to the internet constantly. Of course I have an UPS but that lasts only few minutes and is mainly good for safe server shut down, however, it can power my modem for many hours. How do you deal with black out as far you internet connection is concerned? I could imagine working with laptop during power outage but I have no idea if ISPs in Davao can deal with black out and keep your connection alive…

    • Hi Marcel – Here in Davao, fortunately, we have few brownouts. It appears, though, that the future may hold many more brownouts than we are accustomed to. For now, if there is no power, I just am not online, because we don’t have long brownouts. If they were much more frequent, or very long, I would have to consider the alternatives.

  12. Out of curiosity, do the power outages usually happen during the day? This typically when the greatest load on the system occurs. If so, just having a bank of solar cells, even without a battery backup would handle most of the outages.

      • I’d agree if it’s a scheduled or rolling brownout.

        More often remembered is the brownout endured when you really needed the power (say, a hot steamy night – just the kind of night for which air-com was invented. 😉

  13. Bob, what do you know of the Bataan nuclear power plant in Luzon? Does the political climate there preclude the possibility of rehabilitating it, or building others like it? I understand this (anything dealing with nuclear reactions) is a sensitive subject in that part of the world.

    • Hi Matt – I am a strong supporter of nuclear power. However, that Bataan plant is really beyond repair now. It’s been mothballed for so many years that the chances of rehabilitating it are almost zero now. Also, it sits right on top of a fault line, which is not good.

      • Hi Paul – Just to be clear, though, Matt was asking about the nuclear plant, what you are talking about is a different type of plant. Thanks for the update on that, though! 😉

        • Thanks, Bob, you’re correct in both areas: I should have been clearer and it’s not the nuke plant. That plant has been pretty much adjudged never to operate and is currently on the block for sale of either the entire plant or the equipment.

          Another brownout (4 hour) on Sabado, so I guess Luzon is “really being taken care of”! 😆

          • Hi Paul – Not sure if you caught the FOCAP Presidential Debate over the past week, but I found it quite interesting that almost all of the Presidential Candidates (Villar did not attend) said that while they would never want the Bataan Nuclear plant to be opened, they would support nuclear power in the Philippines, provided that a suitable location could be found, and the waste issue resolved. It kind of surprised me that there was so much support for it. I noted also, that Obama is calling for getting back on teh nuclear energy bandwagon, something that I never thought he would be in favor of. I think that nuclear is the fuel of the future. It’s a clean technology. There are issues that need to be addressed (mostly the waste issue), but they are solvable. At least I feel they are.

            • Hi Bob – Yes, I caught it and a little more “analysis” by the press. It will all boil down to the NIMBY factor.

              Not In My Back Yard

              Everyone will be lauding nuclear power so long as it’s generated somewhere else and the benefits are enjoyed by all. It mirrors Stateside nuclear development. 😉

  14. When I lived in Davao, brown-outs were daily, usually for 4 hours, sometimes for 8 hours. Anticipating that we could return to those times, I had planned to install a generator in the home we are building on Samal, though I’d prefer to set up a solar power generation system. Though the initial investment for powering a house with solar panels is expensive, the cost savings over the life of the system is significant. If anyone living in The Philippines decides to research component costs, please, post your findings on the forums; there is a thread for alternative power.
    Mike

  15. Hi Bob, haven’t had any brownouts in Obrero, Davao so far, but I was told that Samal had several, 3 hours at a time. Word on the street here in Samal is that the cable that runs from Davao to Samal has not enough power. They need more, but haven’t even fully paid for the existing one yet, so the power plant cut off Samal first, before Davao :). We need more rain as the water level at the hydro plant is getting low – is what I’ve been reading and hearing.

    It’s been very cool with the fresh northerly winds, so it’s not so bad now even if we had power outages at nights.

    • Hi Ellen – Also, I believe that Samal get’s it’s power from a different Electric company, right. Samal is part of Davao del Norte Province, not Davao City or Davao del Sur, so it’s a different supplier, I think.

      • Yes it is Davao del Norte. Don’t know who supplied the cable and who is powering here. Whatever it is, the locals talked about hydro plant/water levels, needing more rain, etc and future outages, especially with more dvelopments going on. Developments rely on generators, for sure.

        When I come home at 6 pm, everything seems to be normal – I only know there was a brownout when I have to go out and turn on the water pump. 🙂

        • I just did a little checking… Samal gets it’s power from Davao del Norte Electric Coop, so it’s a different source from the City. Remember, a month ago, we were drowning in too much rain! Ha ha…. my how times change!

  16. Hi Bob, I’m not an electrical engineer but I think the term “brownout” is correct. It means a planned blackout. A blackout is unplanned.

    If you recall, a few years back, California was subjected to rolling brownouts due to Enron playing with the electricity supply market. They managed to rig the market so most of the power coming into California was coming through one line that couldn’t cope. They made a killing but not enough to keep them out of bankruptcy.

    In your case, I doubt anyone is playing with the market. Just a lack of investment.

    I love to read the commentaries from all the folks who contribute.

    • Hi Mike – Thanks for adding your thoughts. I have always thought that the term brownout meant that there was a reduction in power, low voltage, which caused the lights to burn less bright. But, I, like you, am not an engineer, and could certainly be wrong on that!

      Thanks for adding your comment!

      • The way you describe ” Brownout ” Bob, applies here in the USA and yes, the incandescent ( standard filiment type ) bulbs do go dim and look brownish instead of white. This is also a bad situation for major appliances like refridgerators etc. that may be in operation when the voltage gets that low. Blackout is no power at all so if it is at night things will appear to be ” Blacked Out “. This term also applied in WW2 when people were told to blackout their homes to make enemy air raids more difficult to target populated areas. In the UK special Blue Color bulbs were issued as they could be used during a Blackout and not be visible to enemy aircraft.

        I seldom have any power problems where I am and when there is it is usually from trees falling over onto the primary lines on the poles in the street somewhere.

        For some of my sensitive equipment here, I have them connected thru ” Latching Relays ” to the power line. If the power goes below 100 Volts or if it goes off for more than 1 second, the latched relay contacts open and stay that way until I manually reset it. This prevents power surges, spikes etc. from affecting my equipment when the power comes back on. Also it will prevent equipment from cycling on and off if power becomes intermittent ( flickering of lights ) . I guess you could say it is like an automatic or un-attended way of ” pulling the plug ” when I am not able to do it myself or fast enough ! Might be something worth considering if brownouts become more commonplace there, especially for PC’s and other sensitive equipment we did not have to worry about a few decades ago !

        Why a Blackout is called a Brownout in The Philippines, I guess that possibly be attributed to ” Filipino English ” ?

        • Hi Bob – Your understanding of the term “brownout” and mine are exactly the same. I have always found the use of the word strange here in the Philippines.

  17. Hai Bob , in my town Heerlen , the Netherlands , maybe 22 years we live there , 6 to 7 brown outs . So that means practical non .
    But now in iligan city it is realy every day . That,s allso why we changes hotel, now we have one [ elena tower ] who has generator .
    But i saw in the shop an generator for household 12.000 peso , so i think thats what i gonna need , when i retire later and come to live here .
    It,s maybe rare , but for me , i think that prices are down compare to 2007 .
    I am sitting in a coffeeshop next to hotel ,
    there is Wi-Fi , charge 10 peso for 1 hour and 21 Peso for small San Miguel.
    Allso the food , 2 times went to real restaurant , charged 950 ,
    bill not correct , 200 P. back , food was bad.
    For me , being a chef , i eat with my wife , in philippines places where students and local eat [ 200-250 P ]sometimes with hand.
    and i like it.
    But i still looking for a place where i can eat a proper steak with knife and fork .
    The one,s i knewed are closed down .
    And my wife finds it romantic to eat by candle-light ,
    so let,s enjoy.
    Gr. Anton , now in iligan city

    • I saw that generator behind Elena tower, very impressive. It might have been interesting to see it in operation. From the way things are sounding there maybe I will have that opportunity next time I come to visit. I like the Elena Tower, solid as a rock, good location and a nice place to stay. You may be able to have a WiFi connection in certain parts of the hotel as MSU-IIT right next door has Wifi.

  18. In the early ’90s serious power shortage in the country. That was during Ramos’ time. He managed to fix that, including connecting different power grids from Luzon to the south. Where I think the country should go full blast is geothermal. The Philippines is only 2nd to the US in terms of geothermal energy production, but I’m not sure why they can’t put up more. I think the last one is Leyte.

    And of course, El Nino is not helping.

  19. In Cavite we have been getting brownouts daily since around december for about an hour a day.Also some days the water is not working either and my internet seems to have slowed.

  20. Bob New York , yess there is Wi-Fi in the lobby of Elena , but allso a lot of musquito,s , so indeed i went next door ,
    only charge 10 peso for electric and 21 P for a San Miguel .
    And our lunch we have across the street [ student eathouse ]
    less than 200 P for 3 pers. and in the evening have BBQ at
    TOE to TOE 5 doors to the right 20 P a piece.
    And the Elena is indeed a good hotel and when we arrived there was
    Valentine,s promo 500 P standard room [ instead of 720 ] and there is hot water from the tab , most hotel has only in the shower .

  21. Don’t rush into buying solar panels just yet, they are on the threshold of becoming vastly better and more affordable:

    http://eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=AU20M3KWYAZWPQE1GHPSKHWATMY32JVN?articleID=223000119

    Also the best combination for all weather is wind/ solar/ hydro. If possible have all 3. The Philippines has vast potential for tidal and wave power along the Pacific coast. Problem there is infrastructure costs. These things have to get going though, the world is not made out of oil and coal.

  22. In the early nineties Manila suffered regular brownouts – the company that built the power stations (Italian I believe)was asked to make an assessement of the power stations condition, produced a report that basically said that they made a powerstation to have a life of 20 years but in the Philippines they would only have a life of 12 years due to a complete lack of routine maintenance.The usual story of lack of spares,manpower etc due to the inability of the government to control corruption as usual

    • Hi Bryan G – Unfortunately, things like regular maintenance are not regular things here, that’s for sure. Let it break first, then we’ll fix it? Why fix something that isn’t broken? 😯

  23. hey bob i was wondering, in the states u use coal and nuclear power right, does ur electricity cost more than here ? i mean , if u convert it..and is there no power shortage at all?

    i myself feel trapped to be living here..although i have a lot to thank for..the brownouts are becoming more and more of a thorn on my side. the dlpc or davao light and power even have a power interruption scheduled list..yet they dont seem to follow this schedule. in my area which is near SM mall..it sometimes say our power will go out at 9am but it goes off at 5pm to 7. its very hard to plan stuff, for example work on a homework on my computer or iron clothes.

    i think that davao didnt improve itself in terms of power resources, then the malls came. we only had 3-4 malls before..back in the 90s.

    its just sad the way things are..

    • Hi ann – Nuclear is not widely used in the States. There are some nuclear plants, but as a percentage of total energy needs, it is minuscule. Power rates in the Philippines are among the highest rates in the world. Electricity in the USA is way cheaper than in the Philippines, and there are few power interruptions there. The power situation in the Philippines is really pitiful, unfortunately. We pay very high prices, yet we have too little power to serve the people.

  24. Why so many brownouts in zambales Santa cruz tubotubo north area 2012-2013….often can’t yahoo my gf cos of planned or sudden brownouts …!!!!