The COVID-19 was first identified in Hubei province (China) in December 2019 and has since become a global health threat. Due to the outbreak, energy demand and supply is affected worldwide. In this article, we’ll take a closer look on the impact of COVID-19 on electricity.
The COVID-19 pandemic has become, not only a major health concern, but also an immediate and dramatic business concern in a span of just a few months all around the globe. In US alone, the pandemic has pushed many utilities to pause service disconnections and roll out flexible payment plans for the time being.
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte announced an “enhanced community quarantine” in the whole Luzon area. Private companies converted temporarily to a work-from-home setup, public transporations were cancelled, and checkpoints were situated in various areas. This has made a 360-degree shift in the daily lives of Filipinos, especially those who were dependent on their jobs to earn a living.
Under the “enhanced community quarantine”, the Filipinos were instructed to stay at home at all times as much as possible. Ever since, there has been a spike in energy consumption in all households. It is widely anticipated that the electricity demand will largely resemble the consumption on weekends.
Meralco has declared that they will be suspending physical meter reading until April 12. Therefore, physical reading of meters from March 17 to April 14 will be suspended. This is good news but it doesn’t spare the citizens from paying their household’s electricity consumption for the month.
The first quarter of 2020 has seen a number of unfortunate events that conspired throughout the world. A forest fire, volcano eruption, and the COVID-19 pandemic may be nature’s way of telling us that it’s time to change some of our ways that will be beneficial to the environment. As an EPC provider, we’ve always put the spotlight on renewable energy since we believe that it’s one of the many solutions that can help us take that step for a cleaner and healthier environment.
The Philippines is known to be a tropical country. The sun is always there and is ready to give us the power that we need to energize homes and facilities. Even if certain situations cause power plants stop operating, the sun will still be there to give our energy needs.
