ZAMBOANGA CITY – City Mayor Celso Lobregat has asked the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) here to come up with a fixed load shedding or blackout schedule for the city.

Local traders and residents of the city complained that Zamcelco is imposing unpredictable blackout schedules daily which caused damage to electrical appliances.

Lobregat said a meeting between a Zamcelco load dispatcher and City Administrator Antonio Orendain Jr. was held recently and tackled issues about peak, normal, and low power hours to determine the appropriate blackout schedule.

“There should be some improvements on the new scheme,” the mayor said. Lobregat said that power interruptions are necessary in view of the curtailment but the blackout schedule should be fixed and should be organized.

Based on the proposed scheme, a six-hour blackout is expected to be imposed in the city in varying areas.

Because of the dry spell or the El Niño phenomenon, the NGCP is forced to impose power curtailment all over Mindanao.

Over 50 percent of the power generated in Mindanao comes from hydroelectric power plants which are fed by the Lanao Lake.

It was learned that the continuing decrease in the water level in Lake Lanao has caused the reduction of power supply generated from the hydroelectric power plants.