Still no power in some typhoon-hit areas

MANILA, Philippines — Power has yet to be restored in around half of the areas affected by Typhoon Ompong as damage to the distribution sector reaches over P200 million.

Data from the National Electrification Administration (NEA) showed the total estimated damage cost amounted to P208.74 million as of yesterday.

Cagayan cornered the bulk of the costs at P110.83 million, followed by Abra at P20 million and Benguet at P19.23 million.

A total of 332 cities and municipalities lost power and, as of yesterday, a little over half have had power restored in their areas.

The NEA data cited 92 areas have partial power while 70 cities and municipalities are still awaiting restoration.

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) said it has successfully restored power in its Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) power plants affected by Ompong.

Normal power plant operations are now in effect in Batanes (Sabtang, Itbayat and Basco Diesel Power Plants), Cagayan (Calayan, Balatubat and Minabel DPPs), Isabela (Palanan DPP and Maconacon mini-grid) and Aurora (Casiguran DPP).

Napocor’s Kabugao DPP in Apayao, on the other hand, remains non-operational as it awaits distribution line restoration.

“During typhoons or natural disaster, our protocol demands us to shut down power plants in order to protect our generating sets from mechanical stress that can be caused by distribution line disturbances,” Napocor president and CEO Pio Benavidez said.

Napocor said that it then coordinates with electric cooperatives and/or distribution utilities in returning power back to the grid after clearing operations.  

Napocor, on the other hand, stopped spilling operations in San Roque dam yesterday as the water elevation went down to 275.24 meters above sea level.