Landowners delay power restoration in Bicol

MANILA, Philippines - A week after Tropical Storm Glenda hit the Bicol region, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) fully restored power transmission services for all its Bicol grid consumers after repairing affected lines on July 24.

The restoration, however, could have been completed earlier had some landowners immediately allowed the inspection and repair of damaged structures along the affected high-voltage lines in Barangay Del Rosario in Naga City, the NGCP said yesterday.

Months before the typhoon season, the NGCP identified 12 structures of Naga-Naga and Naga-Libmanan 69-kiloVolt (kV) double circuit lines and three more of Naga-Labo 230-kV lines as particularly troublesome because of a right-of-way negotiation with the landowners.

Despite negotiation and repeated pleas and the intervention of the city and provincial governments of Naga and Camarines Sur, respectively, the landowners did not allow NGCP linemen to enter their property.

 On April 4, or three months before Glenda pummeled Bicol, the NGCP asked landowners to allow their linemen repair the transmission lines.

 The NGCP warned landowners that the breakdown of wooden electrical structures in their properties could result in the loss of power supply for Naga City and the western towns.

NGCP stressed the maintenance and correction works it intended to conduct was urgent.

In a letter to landowners, the NGCP said it is aware that the properties are subject of a pending case in the Supreme Court, between the landowners and the National Power Corp.