Published
May 14, 2019, 6:14 PM By Myrna Velasco
Power interruptions
across grids happened at the thick of the voting process on May 13, according
to information furnished to the media by the National Electrification Administration.
The electrification
agency qualified though that the “short-lived brownouts” in some provinces had
been “localized” or just confined within an area, and not due to supply-demand
conditions.
“Most of the service
interruptions observed were due to ‘transient faults’ or momentary disturbances
in the electric power distribution system,” NEA said.
It added that the power
outages occurred within the duration of the scheduled 12-hour voting period for
millions of Filipinos in the country’s mid-term elections.
Nevertheless, NEA Power
Task Force Election team leader Ferdinand Villareal qualified that “these
electrical faults were immediately addressed by the concerned electric
cooperatives.”
The array of technical
problems encountered that caused the power interruptions at distribution level
include busted fuse, tripping of distribution transformers as well as damaged
poles and insulators.
The areas in Luzon that
were strained with “temporary brownouts,” as monitored by the NEA had been
those in Abra, Albay, Batangas, Batanes, Cagayan, Camarines Sur, Ilocos Sur, La
Union, Masbate, Nueva Ecija, Palawan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Occidental Mindoro,
Oriental Mindoro, Tablas Island and Zambales.
In the Visayas, the
provinces that experienced momentary electricity service disruptions had been
Aklan, Antique, Bohol, Capiz, Cebu, Iloilo, Leyte, Negros Oriental, Northern
Samar, Samar, Eastern Samar, Siquijor and Southern Leyte.
Mindanao areas had been
similarly obstructed with brief power outages, chiefly those in Agusan del
Norte, Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Cotabato, Davao del Norte, Lanao del
Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental,
Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga
City, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur.
NEA indicated it will
continue to monitor operations of the country’s 121 electric cooperatives as
tallying of votes are still ongoing by May 14 in a number of areas and
canvassing centers.
On the transmission
side of the power system, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines
(NGCP) reported that everything had been on “normal condition” throughout
election day.
The Department of
Energy (DOE) similarly emphasized that supply had been enough during the poll
period, despite the fact that some plants were still on forced outages or had
been de-rated on their generation capability. (MMV)
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