Filipinos Asked to Turn Off Appliances for Pacquiao-Mayweather Fight to Avoid Outages
The upcoming fight between Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather is a bonafide big deal for the Philippines.
So that people in the Southeast Asian island country get to enjoy the pugilists pounding away at each other, an officer at a Philippine electric company has asked customers to turn off major appliances to help prevent outages that have recently occurred in the area.
Rante Ramos, of Palawan Electric Cooperative, said shutting down refrigerators in 15,000 households would reduce the demand for electricity in the province enough to compensate for the expected power deficit of 2 megawatts that will occur when the fight is aired in the Philippines on Sunday.
"If it is just for the Pacquiao fight, let us just leave electric fans and TVs on," said Ramos, who also emphasized air conditioners, washing machines and electric pots consume a lot of electricity. "We have waited so long for this, and now that it will happen ... it is unacceptable not to have the opportunity to watch it."
Palawan Electric Cooperative said there have been an average of three-hour outages in Palawan because of a breakdown and maintenance shutdown of four power generators in the province.
Ramos said the intention of turning off the power would not just be for the fight: "We also want to teach citizens to show concern for fellow citizens, and of course to save electricity."
As reported by The Associated Press, Sen. Ralph Recto had warned energy officials as far back as February they should do all they could to prevent any power outages when Pacquiao fights Mayweather, telling the power company that they should avoid being made "punching bags" by any boxing fans unable to see the fight.
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