Business World Online
Posted on August 20, 2015 07:07:00 PM
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has appealed to local government units as well as Congress to enact laws that will prohibit and penalize the building of structures and the planting of trees near transmission lines.
In a briefing here on Wednesday, NGCP spokesperson Cynthia P. Alabanza said local and national laws will provide more teeth when the company needs to assert right-of-way for power transmission lines.
NGCP’s head of maintenance, Gildo R. Listano, explained that there should be no natural or man-made structure within nine meters from any transmission line as a precaution against electrocution and outages.
Mr. Listano said the regulations should be in place up to the barangay level for stronger implementation.
The NGCP operates a total 19,490 circuit kilometers of transmission lines and 27,726 mega-volt amperes of substation capacity from Luzon to Mindanao.
In Mindanao, Ms. Alabanza said the lines emanating from the Balo-i station in Lanao del Norte are the most critical since the station supplies about a quarter of the Mindanao grid’s requirements. These lines traverse Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Surigao del Sur.
“If a line trips and this particular line runs through our load centers in Davao or Gensan, then there will be a massive blackout,” she said.
In a meeting with law enforcement officials, Ms. Alabanza presented photos of transmission lines obstructed by trees, vegetation and even houses.
Ms. Alabanza said some landowners in Lanao del Norte are taking advantage of the situation by intentionally growing trees beside the transmission lines and applying for right-of-way claims. Last week, Ms. Alabanza made the same appeal during a meeting of Mindanao vice-governors, who, under the law, also chair their respective provincial councils, which enact local ordinances. -- Mark D. Francisco source
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