Meralco fast tracks power service restoration
By Myrna M. Velasco – September 26, 2022, 4:05 PM
from Manila Bulletin
From over 1.2 million customers who suffered power service interruptions at the height of super typhoon Karding’s devastation, power utility giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced that it already brough back the electricity services of most of its affected subscribers.
“Due to the weather disturbance, Meralco recorded momentary and sustained power interruptions affecting 1,237,826 customers across its franchise area,” the utility firm reported.
Nevertheless, it emphasized that as of 12:00 noon on Monday (September 26), the affected customers yet to regain their power services had already been significantly brought down to 35,947 end-users.
Meralco expounded that majority of its affected customers have been those in Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, Pampanga, Rizal as well as some parts of Metro Manila.
The power firm apprised all of its affected subscribers that “our crews are working round the clock to restore power at the soonest possible time.”
Additionally, the Department of Energy (DOE) stated that transmission firm National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) “has mobilized its line crews and is currently conducting patrols to inspect and assess the impact of the typhoon to its operations and facilities.”
The department said “simultaneous restoration activities are being conducted on areas already accessible,” emphasizing that NGCP’s work would only be confined to the transmission facilities; while power service restorations at the level of the distribution utilities (DUs) are also being carried out separately.
“Specific cities and municipalities affected by the unavailable transmission facilities are determined by concerned distribution utilities, unless the outage affects the entire franchise area,” the DOE explained.
The department conveyed that based on a report furnished by the National Electrification Administration (NEA), out of the 51 electric cooperatives – of which service areas had been traversed by super typhoon Karding, 28 had been logged to be in normal operation; while eight (8) ECs suffered from partial power interruptions; and six (6) experienced total blackouts.
The provinces that were plunged into total electricity service outages had been those in Aurora, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija; while those which went through partial power service interruptions were La Union, Pangasinan, Mountain Province, Pampanga, Zambales and Quezon.
