THE Department of Energy (DoE) said a recent power tripping at a transmission line in Masinloc, Zambales, that resulted in outages in Metro Manila and nearby provinces was caused by intense rain and lightning in the area.

Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevarra said in a hybrid press briefing that an initial report of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines showed that the tripping of the Bolo-Masinloc 230 kV Line 2, which led to the tripping of Masinloc Units 1 and 2 (618 MW) that forced the NGCP to put the Luzon grid under red alert on Monday was caused by lightning that struck the transmission line.