TransCo vows to restore power in P’sinan in 15 days

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan  – National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) officials in western Pangasinan vowed to restore power in 15 days in the aftermath of tropical storm “Cosme.”

Engineer Gerardo Torres, manager of TransCo’s western Pangasinan branch based in Labrador town, gave this assurance in a meeting of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council yesterday.

The provincial board passed a resolution the other day summoning all power distributors in the province like the Dagupan Electric Corp. (Decorp), Pangasinan Electric Cooperative and Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative (Cenpelco) to a special session yesterday to assess the power situation in the province, which bore the brunt of Cosme whose strong winds uprooted electric posts and damaged power facilities.

“Our commitment is that in 15 days, everything will be normal,” Torres said.

But he added that this still depends on the capabilities of the local power distributors.

In the last two days, Torres said they have given priority to the 500,000-volt grid line.

He said 194 concrete poles were toppled down in the whole of central and western Pangasinan.

With the arrival of TransCo teams from Tuguegarao City, Bulacan and Pampanga, he said they expect to energize Cenpelco’s Labrador substation today.

Torres, however, clarified that not all households will have power back immediately, as Cenpelco and other local power distributors also have to attend to other problems like their own damaged facilities.

Torres appealed to barangay and local officials and the police to stop the pilferage of power cables.

In Dagupan City, Superintendent Dionicio Borromeo said they have arrested a resident in the act of selling 15 kilograms of electric copper wire to a junkshop.

The previous day, Borromeo said a junkshop owner was arrested for buying a stolen Decorp transformer and electric cables.       – Eva Visperas