Blackout due to lightning hits Visayas provinces

MANILA, Philippines — A widespread power outage caused by lightning hit parts of the Visayas before midnight yesterday.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said the Cebu-Quiot-Colon line tripped, triggering blackouts in parts of Cebu, Leyte, Samar and Bohol.

The NGCP said the first load was restored at about 12:52 a.m. while almost all feeders were energized by 5:48 a.m.

The Visayan Electric Co. said its entire franchise area was affected by the blackout at midnight. Power was fully restored before 5 a.m.

The Samar I Electric Cooperative Inc. said power was restored in its franchise area at around 5:41 a.m.

The NGCP is still working on the restoration of loads associated with the Leyte V Electric Cooperative Inc. (Leyeco V).

“NGCP is expediting the reenergization of its Isabel sub-station, which serves parts of Leyte under Leyeco V,” the agency said.

The Department of Energy (DOE), which called the incident a “system failure,” asked the Energy Regulatory Commission to investigate the incident.

“We are asking the NGCP, which is responsible for system operations, to provide immediate remedy to this system failure and explain to its customers the reason... and prevent this from happening again,” DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.