BUTUAN CITY – A total blackout has been scheduled in some provinces in Central Mindanao, while the rest of the region is now experiencing four hours of rotating brownouts as the Mindanao grid’s power supply was further depleted after the National Power Corporation (Napocor) shut down Saturday some of the hydroelectric turbines of Agus plants in Lake Lanao and Pulangi 4 in Maramag, Bukidnon due to “very low and critical water level.”

The shutdown of some Agus power plants came a day after three power plants in the Luzon grid – Magat Hydroelectric Dam in Isabela, Sta. Rita Module 20 facility of First Gen Corporation, and the Units 1 and 2 of the Malaya Thermal Plant – stopped operations.

Pedro Ambos, Napocor officer-in-charge of operations and planning division, said they have decided to turn off temporarily some of their turbines “to save water” and to “avert damage” of its turbines.

Earlier, Engr. Noli Namocatcat, corporate manager of Agusan del Norte Electric Cooperative (ANECo), said the two centimeters decrease of water level in Lake Lanao might force them to shut down its turbine.

“At 2 centimeters water down a day, these Agus plants might be forced to shut down to protect its turbines from further damage,” said Namocatcat.

ANECo General Manager Horacio Santos said millions of pesos are already lost in major industries due to power curtailment.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in its advisory Saturday said the Lake Lanao water level had gone down further to 699.01, which is already below the critical level of 699.15 meters.

The NGCP advisory added the generating power capacity to date recorded at 650 megawatts (mW), against the grid demand of 1,447 MW. Lake Lanao is the source of the Mindanao grid.

Lanao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Laneco) Manager Engr. Resnol Torres said the temporary shut down of some of the Agus plants has resulted in further reduced allocation on their end of around 40 MW.

The new load curtailment scheme meant four-hour daily brownouts in their service area, he said.

In Cagayan de Oro, local power utility Cepalco said the public can expect longer rotating brownouts, even a total blackout if the power situation takes a turn for the worst.

Last Thursday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of calamity in Mindanao due to severe power problem.

The declaration of a state of calamity would enable local government units (LGUs) to access calamity funds which could be used in mitigating the effects of power crisis.

As this developed, Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales has tossed to governors in Luzon and the Visayas the responsibility of handling the power crisis and other adverse effects of the dry spell in their respective provinces.

This came as a reaction to the reported complaints that other affected areas in Luzon should also be covered by the state of calamity, similar to what was effected in the entire Mindanao over the power supply problems.

“Every province can actually declare on their own a state of calamity, it depends of the governors. They don't need the intervention of the President," said Gonzales.

Gonzales, also a concurrent chairman of the National Disaster and Coordinating Council (NDCC), explained that the President Arroyo’s action is needed once the issue at hand covers large areas like what happened in the case of declaring state of emergency in Mindanao.

Earlier, the NDCC recommended to President Arroyo in the placing of the entire Mindanao under state of calamity over the power supply shortage that has been triggering rotating brownouts as long as eight hours. The President approved the recommendation on Thursday.

Gonzales, for his part, insinuated that it is unlikely that the entire Luzon and the Visayas would also be placed under state of calamity since the power supply in the areas are stable and that only a few provinces are affected by the dry spell.

“If it involves wide areas, it would be the President (who would decide) but if it only involves some areas in the province, the governors can very well make that decision of declaring their province in a state of calamity,” said Gonzales.

Meanwhile, the business community in Zamboanga City and the entire Zamboanga Peninsula hailed President Arroyo’s declaration of state of calamity in Mindanao as they hope for an immediate end to the worsening power crisis in the island.

Alex Go, vice president of the Grain Retailers Confederation (Grecon) in Zamboanga Peninsula, said many traders here are supporting the initiative of President Arroyo provided it would be mainly focused on resolving the lingering power crisis in Mindanao.

“Business is severely being affected by what is happening now so it must be resolved soon,” he said.

Antonio Veneracion, director of the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., said placing Mindanao under the state of calamity will now allow the government to step in and take the necessary remedial measures to ease the worsening power problem in Mindanao.

Ronnel Rivera, vice president of tuna industry player RD Corporation, said the President’s declaration could open up some immediate solutions to the power supply deficiency of the island that dropped to the 650-megawatt (MW) level on Thursday after nearing the 800 MW-mark earlier this week. (With reports from Aaron B. Recuenco and Nonoy E. Lacson)