Mindanao-wide blackout

MANILA, Philippines - Mindanao experienced an island-wide power outage yesterday, a day after Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla got a dressing down from President Aquino for the delay in the full restoration of electricity in all areas affected by Typhoon Pablo in December 2012.

Petilla said the cause of the blackout, which started at 3:53 a.m., could not yet be determined.

Security officials downplayed the island-wide blackout, saying they have not received any report of threats on the power situation in Mindanao.

“But we are looking into all aspects of the incident,” a security official who requested anonymity told The STAR.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said it was business as usual for airports in Mindanao.

CAAP deputy director general John Andrews said all airports were operational.

“There is no shutdown as we are equipped with generators,” Andrews said.

Petilla assured the public that the power outage is not an indicator of a worsening power situation in the country, although he conceded that Mindanao might experience three-hour rotating blackouts in the summer months due to a projected supply deficiency of 170 megawatts (MW) during this period.

Yesterday’s power outage started when one of the government-owned Pulangi hydropower plants in Bukidnon bogged down.

By noon, however, 70 percent of the power supply had been restored.

A total of 1,100 to 1,200 MW went offline.

“We cannot make a conclusion right now until we see the reports. The focus is on restoration and none of the plants were damaged,” Petilla said in a press briefing.

When asked if there are indications of sabotage, the energy chief said authorities are not ruling out anything yet.

“We will not rule out anything but we cannot see indications of sabotage,” Petilla said.

He said it was difficult to immediately determine the cause of the power outage because the system in Mindanao is “antiquated” compared to the Luzon grid.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the country’s grid operator, also still does not know the cause of the power outage.

Initial reports showed that affected areas include Davao City, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley, North Cotabato, Bukidnon, Maguindanao, Zamboanga City, Butuan City, General Santos City, South Cotabato, Cagayan de Oro CIty, and Sultan Kudarat.

In a separate advisory, the NGCP said transmission service has been restored in Davao City, General Santos City, Zamboanga City, Pagadian City, Cagayan de Oro City and parts of Misamis Oriental.

Davao City also went without water as electricity was needed to pump water from the various wells of the Davao City Water District.

In a television interview, NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said they have no “concrete information“ yet on the cause of the power outage.

Both Petilla and Alabanza said it was difficult to speculate on the cause of the outage.

No cause for alarm

Petilla said there was no cause for alarm as there were no indications that armed groups or unidentified sectors carried out attacks on the power plants.

“This is something that can be controlled. I’m more worried about supply. Tripping can happen but you really need supply,” he said.

He said the energy department would be conducting its own investigation to determine what caused the power outage and if there are entities that should be investigated or penalized.

“We will ask them to explain,” Petilla said, when asked if the government would slap sanctions on NGCP if it is found to be liable.

Last May 8, an island-wide power outage also hit Luzon when one of NGCP’s transmission lines went down.

Petilla said he is counting on the private sector to push through with their plans to build new power plants in Mindanao.

The Mindanao power outage comes amid a disputed power rate hike in Luzon between Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and power consumers.

Meralco’s generation charge rose to P9.10 per kilowatt-hour in December last year and is still the subject of ongoing hearings at the Supreme Court.

TUCP seeks probe

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) yesterday sought a probe into the real cause of the massive power outage in Mindanao.

It said the government must explain the reason behind the massive power outage that caused great inconvenience to the people of Mindanao, especially workers.

“With no one from the government able to explain the cause, this incident is sowing fear and uncertainty to the people,” TUCP spokesman Alex Tanjusan said.

Restored in 45 days

Meanwhile, Petilla again assured the public that power in Cateel, Davao hit by Typhoon Pablo would be restored in 45 days.

He said it would be up to the President to decide if after 45 days, he would fulfill his promise.

Last Dec. 25, Petilla offered to resign after he was unable to fulfill his promise of restoring power in areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda in November.

“On power, I just talked to (Budget) Secretary (Florencio) Abad and (Energy) Secretary (Jericho) Petilla and our NEA (National Electrification Administration) administrator. I called them because I am shocked to learn that there are still places that don’t have electricity. They told me that NEA has a pending request. DBM, however, claimed the request is not with them. I am now asking the Department of Energy where the request is,” Aquino said in a speech commemorating the 28th anniversary of the People Power revolution in Cebu.

Reports from Davao Oriental noted that power has not yet been restored in 24 of the 42 barangays in Baganga, Cateel and Boston, the towns hardest hit by Pablo.

The Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative has a fund request submitted to both the NEA and DOE for power restoration efforts.

Mindanao Business Council chairman Vicente Lao said the losses due to the blackout were not that much.

“There will be losses but not that significant because they addressed it. The power outage was not that long really,” Lao said.

Meralco to pay P7 B

Meralco will pay power generators over a period of six months unpaid dues of roughly P7 billion.

The amount represents unpaid dues owed by Meralco to power firms after the Supreme Court (SC) issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against its December bill.

In effect, this will ease the burden on power firms and allow them to pay their fuel supply and consequently assure a more stable power supply.

Petilla hoped that the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the power regulator, will soon come up with a decision on the disputed rate hike to end uncertainties.

The P7 billion represents power sourced from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the country’s trading floor for electricity.

Petilla said not all power generators would be covered by the agreement as some opted to have their own negotiations with Meralco.

The energy chief has been urging both Meralco and power generators to negotiate on the power distributor’s unpaid obligations pending the decision of the high court.

The SC issued a 60-day TRO on Meralco’s December 2013 generation charge of P9.10 per kilowatt-hour, acting on petitions filed by militant groups.

Meralco owes power generators some P13 billion for power sourced from the WESM for the December 2013 and January 2014 billing months.

Petilla said he has been urging Meralco and generators to negotiate pending the court’s decision on the TRO amid threats of possible blackouts due to Meralco’s inability to collect from consumers.

Meralco’s generation charge climbed in December during the 30-day maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas platform, which supplies three power plants in Luzon. The power plants had to use the more expensive liquid fuel.

The ERC has asked Meralco to explain the “confusing” billing statements sent to consumers.

Meralco’s bills had a portion on deferred charges because its December bill rose to P9.10 per kWh although they had to peg the bill at P5.67 per kWh.

The firm also had to peg to P5.67 per kwh its January bill in deference to the TRO, which only covered the December bill.

It said the data on deferred charges was meant to inform customers the amount they need to pay in case the TRO is lifted. -– With John Unson, Roel Pareño, Mayen Jaymalin, Gerry Lee Gorit, Edith Regalado, Lawrence Agcaoili