Manila: The Philippines government on Saturday warned residents in Luzon to brace for power outages as energy supply is expected to run short with the onset of summer.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte during a press briefing in Malacañang, said the government is taking measures to ensure there would be minimal disruptions in the delivery of power utility services during the summer months starting in March.

“There are scheduled (power generating plant) shutdowns that we have calendared and they want to make sure that all other plants do not have unscheduled shutdowns,” Valte said quoting the Department of Energy.

The electric grid in northern main island relies in large part on hydroelectric dams located across of Luzon. During summer months when rains are few and far between, power outages occur as there is less rainwater to feed the water turbines that generate electricity.

Valte said: “The DOE (Department of Energy) is working on making sure that interruptions are minimised.”

According to the DOE, the Luzon grid is expected to suffer a 300 Megawatt power-generation shortfall by the summer months.

Increasing energy demand from business, as well as household users are causing the shortfall in power supply and according to authorities, Luzon and the country in general are expected to suffer the effects of an energy shortage as commercial and industrial activity are expected to slow down due to brownouts that could last up to several hours.

Power supply for Luzon had recently been a serious concern for the government. As early as middle of 2014, President Benigno Aquino III had warned of a looming energy shortage if steps are not taken. The chief executive had appealed to Congress to provide him with “emergency powers”, but the chamber stalled on the issue. The chief reason was distrust.

Senior Deputy Minority Leader Neri Colmenares of the left-wing nationalist, Nation First (Bayan Muna) partylist, had said Aquino’s demand for emergency powers could result in so-called “sweetheart deals” that is inimical to the interest of the people and geared to favour business groups who are close to the palace.

Under the existing set up, power generation, although considered a strategic sector, works within the free market context where government participation is limited to regulatory functions.

Colmenares recalled that during a same power shortage situation more than 20 years ago during the administration of President Fidel Ramos, business groups used the issue of frequent blackouts to leverage onerous power generating contracts which Filipino consumers continue to bear until now.

The biased power generating contracts were seen as the reason Filipinos consumers and businesses are paying the highest energy costs in Asia after Japan.

In the past, other islands such as Mindanao and the Visayas had also suffered from brownouts, but these were solved with the construction of more power generating plants that rely on fossil fuels such as coal and diesel.