DOE monitors power supply for vaccine cold storage

The Department of Energy (DOE) is monitoring distribution utilities to ensure they secure power supply for Covid-19 vaccine cold storage facilities.

DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella stated that the department is keeping an eye on these utilities to make sure they are protecting areas where vaccines are stored.

A red alert was raised over the Luzon grid starting Monday due to insufficient power supply.

The insufficient supply causing power outages in the past three days was attributed to unplanned or forced outages of several private sector generation plants.

The government's COVID-19 vaccine rollout has not been affected by rotational blackouts in Luzon, as a strict requirement for vaccine storage facilities is to have backup power generators.

DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya urged LGUs to ensure vaccines are kept in storage facilities with uninterrupted power supply or stand-by generators.

The NGCP spokesperson noted that these red and yellow alert statuses on the Luzon grid were expected to continue until June 7, excluding weekends.