Palawan southern town residents complain on frequent brownouts

By Leila Bingco-Dagot - Nov 23, 2015
http://palawan-news.com/palawan-southern-town-residents-complain-on-frequent-brownouts/

Many residents of southern Palawan towns are complaining on the frequent brownouts in their areas since the last two weeks.

One resident of Panacan 2 in Narra town who requested for anonymity went to Palawan News office to complain about the prolonged and frequent power outages in their place.

“I just cannot understand why this is happening. I went to Paleco Narra but they cannot give me the straight answer,” he said.

The towns most affected by brownouts are Brooke’s Point, Bataraza, and Sofronio Española. These areas have been experiencing almost 24-hour brownouts which angered residents as they suffer losses in their businesses.

Vicky Basilio, spokesperson of Palawan Electric Cooperative said that the brownouts are caused by the problem in the 69KV transmission lines of National Power Corporation.

“Wala namang kakapusan ng supply ng kuryente, kaya lang laging sira ang transmission line ng NAPOCOR. Nakikipag-ugnayan din po ang PALECO sa NPC na ayusin ang maintenance nila,” Basilio said.

Last week the “power family,” composed of Napocor, Paleco and independent power producers have met and discussed the possible solutions to the problem.

According to Basilio, another diesel plant of DMCI is in the pipeline which will be built in Brooke’s Point as a back-up in case Napocor will experience the same problem in the future. The proposed diesel power plant is expected to be operational by December this year.

“Plano ngayon ng DMCI na maglagay ng apat na generator sets sa Brooke’s Point na magsu-supply ng kabuuang 5.7 megawatt,” she added.

Only the towns of Quezon and Rizal are somehow spared from the power outages due to the diesel power plant of DMCI in Quezon which supplies electricity to these adjacent towns according to Basilio.