Power outages hit South Luzon areas on Taal Volcano eruption

POWER outages occurred in the vicinity of Taal Volcano, which continued to spew ash following its eruption Sunday afternoon.

As of Monday morning, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) reported the following areas that experienced power interruptions.

• Portions of Bacoor, Silang, Amadeo, Indang, Naic, Trece Martires City, Alfonso, Cavite City and Dasmariñas City, all in Cavite.
• Portions of Cabuyao and Calamba, Laguna.
• Portions of Talisay, Batangas.
• All circuits of Tagaytay City.

“The effect of ashfall from Taal’s recent volcanic activity has affected various Meralco circuits in Batangas, Cavite and Laguna, causing power interruptions and outages in some portions of these provinces,” said Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga.

The utility firm is working to restore power in these areas as soon as possible.

As of 9 am, Monday, some portions of Santa Rosa, Cabuyao and Calamba have already been restored.

“Meralco is currently on full alert and ready to respond to any power-related emergencies,” it added.

Meanwhile, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) has advised all concerned electric cooperatives to take all appropriate contingency measures to mitigate the impact on electric services to consumers, activate the Emergency Restoration Organization, when needed to immediately implement emergency restoration plan and continuously monitor the situation.

NEA reported that power interruption also occurred in the service areas of Batelec II (Batangas II Electric Cooperative Inc.)

It cited “volcanic eruption, series of earthquakes, ashfall, lava mud and rocks affecting subtransmission and distribution facilities” as the reasons for the power knockout since Sunday afternoon.

DOE tracking

Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) said it is closely coordinating with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center, as well as all the members of the energy family for subsequent updates and information on the status of energy facilities and systems, or any other emerging problem that may affect energy supply.

In the generation sector, the National Power Corp. (NPC) reported to the DOE that it is coordinating with its personnel in Tingloy, Batangas, where its Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) operates.

Transmission

In the transmission sector, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is implementing contingency measures, as it continues monitoring the effects of the volcanic activity on transmission facilities.

As of Sunday night, multiple trippings occurred in the Dasmariñas-Ilijan 500-kV Line,  Tayabas-Dasmariñas 500-kV Line,  San Jose-Tayabas 500-kV Line 2 and  4x600MVA Dasmariñas Transformers.

The grid operator said it is addressing this to restore affected lines immediately.

Refinery, terminals

Meanwhile, the refinery and terminals of Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corp., South Pacific Inc., are unaffected.

However, Shell closed down seven stations within a 6 to 35 kilometer radius of Taal. Petro Gazz did the same with its Silang, Cavite, and Lipa City stations.

Five stations of Seaoil were also closed.

Insular Oil, meanwhile, reported to the DOE that its Batangas operations are “on alert.”