Transco warns of blackouts

MANILA -- A Supreme Court (SC) decision threatens to put out of service a crucial power transmission line and pester Metro Manila – particularly the business areas in Makati and Ortigas – with hours-long rotating blackouts, just like during the power crisis in the 1990s.

National Transmission Corp. vice president for operations Carlito Claudio raised the scenario after the SC ordered the National Power Corp. not to energize the 230-kilovolt Sucat-Araneta Balintawak transmission line until it can be proved that the facility poses no health risks to residents in the vicinity. In its ruling, the SC upheld the petition of Dasmariñas Village residents.

Any power interruption that may result from the decommissioning of the facilities will affect most the franchise areas of Manila Electric Co.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said vast areas of Metro Manila and Bulacan province will experience two to three hour-long outages daily on weekdays as a result.

Claudio told reporters that they have asked the SC to defer up to Jan. 31, 2009 the execution of its ruling to allow TransCo to implement contingency measures.

Claudio said it would take at least a year – and P1 billion – to put up an alternate underground cable line to replace the Sucat-Araneta-Balintawak transmission line.

He said this could mean affected power users may have to endure extended rotating blackouts for a year, or until a new facility is available.

He also warned that this may result in higher electricity rates as they would be compelled to draw power from Napocor’s expensive power plants such as Limay, Subic and Malaya.

“This is the reason why we need to coordinate closely with Meralco, Napocor and Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) to mitigate the impact on customers,” he said.

“This is wrong timing as we are nearing the Christmas holidays. We do not want our electricity consumers to suffer at this time of year,” he said.

He noted that if demand in the system reaches 6,200 megawatt (MW), power rationing will have to be carried out.

“Normally, we have lower demand in Christmas time. But the full impact of such order will be felt in summertime when demand is high,” he said.

“Rotating brownouts will result in lost revenues to Meralco, not to mention the losses to industrial and commercial customers,” he added.

“The Sucat-Araneta project is the main artery, so this is a crucial line. We cannot just turn it off and be a disadvantage to millions of consumers who rely on electricity for their daily livelihood,” former TransCo president Alan Ortiz said.

“Hopefully more enlightened parties would give us more breathing space to maintain the line. So, clearly, to cut is not an immediate option – since all communities linked to the line would have no electricity and (also) the MRT and MIA. And it would take 12 to 18 months to complete portion of the project that they want to be diverted,” he said earlier.

The Sucat-Araneta-Balintawak transmission line stretches from South Superhighway to the perimeter of Fort Bonifacio, Dasmariñas Village in Makati City to Araneta Ave. in Quezon City.

Dasmariñas residents claimed the facilities pose health risks due to electromagnetic radiation.

The SC, in upholding a lower court’s ruling, junked Napocor’s argument that Presidential Decree 1818 prohibits the issuance of injunction against infrastructure projects and public utilities.

“We have dealt with the electromagnetic field issues for some time, and our scientific professional opinion is that there is no scientific basis for some of the claims of radiation and sickness associated with electro-magnetic fields. This has yet to be 100-percent scientifically established,” Ortiz said.