By Mai Gevera

Davao City (20 February) -- Department of Energy is embarking on a supply augmentation scheme after seeing a dwindling power supply generated from hydropower plants in Mindanao.

Energy secretary Angelo Reyes admitted a 50 percent reduction of hydropower production, in his visit to this city yesterday (February 18) for the 2010 Earth Hour Launching.

The official learned that Mindanao power is starting to be affected due to the El Nino phenomenon that includes the receding water levels in hydropower plants.

It was recently reported that there was a water level reduction at the Agus hydropower plant complex and Lake Lanao is now 19 centimeters above critical level.

These changes resulted to certain recommendations given by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines urging distribution firms to curtail their loads.

This brought Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) to resort into rotational brownouts to fill on the power supply gap of between 20 to 30 MW.

Reyes, on the other hand, assured mild effects of power shortage as the government would recommend supply augmentation.

"This scheme would get embedded generating power from large company which generate their own power," he said.

He explained that this scheme is already implemented in Cebu and it would soon be implemented in Mindanao provinces as soon as the Energy Regulation Commission approves for this application.

It was April of last year that the ERC issued a provisional authority for the Visayas Supply Augmentation Auction (VSAA).