Power restoration in full swing – NGCP

MANILA, Philippines — Restoration and relief activities are in full swing following the onslaught of Tropical Storm Paeng, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

NGCP said it has mobilized about 600 personnel or 73 line gangs to expedite post-Paeng restoration works.

Four choppers augmented foot patrols to expedite line inspections, it said.

NGCP said transmission services in Sorsogon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Laguna, Samar, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Antique and Aklan have been restored as of 10 a.m. yesterday.

“Restoration schedules for the remaining affected lines will be released while damage assessment is ongoing. When possible, restoration works are done simultaneously with the line patrols,” NGCP said.

NGCP said transmission services only extend to the level of cooperatives or distribution utilities.

“Consumers at the household level without power are advised to coordinate with their local service provider for restoration schedules,” it said.

Seven 69-kilovolt transmission lines of NGCP in North and South Luzon remained unavailable as of 1 p.m. Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has recorded momentary and sustained power interruptions affecting a total of four million customers across its franchise area.

Of the total, Meralco said 450,538 customers are still affected as of 1 p.m. yesterday.

Most of them are in Laguna and Cavite while the rest are in parts of Batangas, Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan and Quezon.

“We ask for our customers’ patience and understanding since we could not give a definite time on when service will be restored. Rest assured that our ground personnel and line crews are working round the clock to restore power the soonest possible time,” Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said.

The National Electrification Administration, for its part, said that out of 96 electric cooperatives that were placed under different tropical cyclone wind signals, 32 were in partial power interruption, while 10 were in total power interruption as of 10 a.m. yesterday.