Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Sharon Garin said measures are now in place to help limit the impact of the El Niño phenomenon on the power sector and the consumers.

She said the government has started preparing for disaster mitigation and resilience as well as educating the public on energy demand and management.

“Department of Energy is preparing to cover for that,” she said in a briefing Tuesday on the sidelines of the 44th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) at the Philippine International Convention Center.

The weather bureau said the dry spell that started this month is expected to last until early 2027.

Garin said the dry spell will not only affect the hydropower plants but also the coal-fired power plants, biomass power plants and even solar power plants

“This will have an impact on our demand. The hotter the climate is, the higher the demand is, basically,” she said, noting that the end of the expected extreme El Niño in the first quarter of this year is already the start of the summer months.

Relatively, the DOE chief said electricity prices are also expected to increase, given the law of supply and demand.

“It will affect our supply, and DOE is preparing to cover for that based on the other auctions that we have. But the appeal is for the public to be aware of this, that we can already start the mindset of energy saving,” she said.

She added that turning off unused appliances and implementing other power-saving measures can save around 20 percent of electricity. (PNA)