MANILA, Philippines — The Senate Committee on Energy will begin its investigation Wednesday over Northern Davao Electric Cooperative (Nordeco)’s alleged failure to provide adequate services to its consumers in Island Garden City of Samal.
The outages resulted in the declaration of a state of calamity in the city.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo said he has received information about negligence on the part Nordeco that resulted in the brownouts, which have affected residents’ livelihood and way of life.
“One energy crisis after another is being experienced in our country. After Occidental Mindoro and Panay, now Samal Island,” Tulfo said in a statement.
“In the coming hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy on Wednesday, the matter regarding the energy crisis in Samal Island will be discussed. Those who are negligent will be held accountable and a long-term solution will be found,” he added.
He said that Nordeco appears to be the root of the power failure, because its antiquated and poor submarine cables have never been replaced since its installation.
Sen. Win Gatchalian, Joel Villanueva and Grace Poe will also be present during the inquiry.
On average, power outages in the area last from seven to eight hours during peak load and two to three hours during off-peak daily, and this has been going on since last year.
Tulfo said Nordeco apparently failed to prepare for the increase in electricity demand in the area, considering that before the island became a tourist spot, the lack of electricity here was unnoticed.
Now that Samal Island is frequented by tourists, its peak demand went up from 3 megawatts (MW) to 9MW due to the rise of establishment such as resorts, restaurants and markets.
It can be noted that Samal Island is connected to the Pantukan Grid via a submarine cable owned by Nordeco.
“Currently, Samal is connected to mainland via a 1-kilometer submarine cable to Davao City. The cable is owned by Nordeco but it has not upgraded that submarine cable since the 1980s. The antiquated submarine cable is installed in 1980s or 43 years ago, and it can no longer cover the entire capacity of the island,” said Tulfo.
Tulfo added that Nordeco is proposing to build a 15-kilometer submarine cable costing P1.5 billion connect Samal and Pantukan town.
The Energy Regulatory Commission has since stated that it has not approved the proposal and that Nordeco has not filed for approval for this capital expenditure for the Pantuklan submarine cable.
Presently, the Mindoro Grid Corp. can provide 6.962MW electricity in the island while Nordeco can provide 3MW. In total, there is only 6.12MW supply in the island with a demand of 9MW.
Nordeco, formerly known as Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative Inc. (Daneco), has been reportedly criticized by its consumer cooperatives for its failure to provide a stable power supply to its area coverage.
“The firm is around P3-4 more expensive compared to neighboring areas. Aside from Samal, NORDECO also serves other municipalities in Northern Davao. These areas are also suffering from poor service,” said Tulfo.