More than two weeks now after super typhoon “Juan” (international name “Megi”) crossed the Philippines, there are at least 50 areas in three provinces in northern Luzon that have remained literally in the dark. These areas suffered blackouts at the height of “Juan” which packed winds of more than 160 kph.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) disclosed that four towns in Pangasinan, 29 in Cagayan, and 33 in Isabela have no power supply until now.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) gave reassurances that power in these areas will be restored at the soonest possible time. The NDRRMC reported that power was earlier restored in Benguet, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Nueva Vizcaya that were also severely hit by “Juan.”
Fortunately, the latest tropical storm, “Katring” (international name “Chaba”), did not cause much damage along its path in southern Luzon provinces. But we cannot just depend on the good graces of the Lord and good luck to spare us from natural calamities.
At least typhoons like these can be predicted by the now more accurate and reliable forecasting by our weathermen. Precisely, we have these state agencies under the umbrella of the NDRRMC that are supposed to come up with disaster risk reduction schemes and adaptation measures on climate change.
In fact, no less than President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III himself publicly expressed his satisfaction on how the NDRRMC handled well the government preparations for “Juan,” mitigating its damage to lives, properties and agricultural crops. Although the target of “zero casualties” was not met, the disaster mitigation measures generally paid off, especially in flood- and landslide-prone areas where preventive evacuations were done before “Juan” unleashed its fury.
However, the same cannot be said of the disaster preparedness by our state energy agencies. According to reports, the NGCP has so far repaired more than 50 percent of its transmission towers toppled by typhoon’s strong winds.
In the meantime, people in the remaining blackout-affected areas will have to bear the long wait for their lives to normalize with power supply.
The NGCP is a private concessionaire of the Transmission Co. (Transco), one of the spin-off companies from the former National Power Corp. that was privatized as mandated by the Congress-approved Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001. They are all under the supervision of the Department of Energy (DOE).
While it was already privatized, the NGCP, however, is still imbued with public interest. Under its 25-year concession contract, the NGCP still operates under the supervision of Transco. Among the damaged power structures of NGCP were the ones connecting power lines from Gamu, Isabela to Tuguegarao City, Cagayan. At least 15 towers reportedly collapsed at the height of typhoon “Juan.” The steel frames of these towers crumpled and naturally, power lines were disconnected from the power grids of the electric cooperatives in these provinces.
This led to suspicions that these steel frames of NGCP towers were made of substandard materials. These blackouts probably could have been avoided if only steel materials used in these electric towers passed quality control so they could withstand strong winds.
Domestic steel manufacturers belonging to the Philippine Product Safety and Quality Foundation (PPSQF) have sought clearance from the DOE to send out technical experts from the steel industry to investigate what could be the best evidence of substandard materials used on the steel towers that collapsed.
Whether these steel towers were locally made or imported, the experts would determine if the materials used were of substandard quality, PPSQF executive director Maria Victoria Padilla was quoted as saying. Padilla rightly underscored the need to conduct this inspection now to prevent a repeat of the same power outages.
From this experience that our country had with “Juan,” it would do well for our energy officials to do a regular checklist from power generation to transmission and update their contingency plans for worst-case scenarios. When we had typhoon “Basyang” last June, our village had no electricity for almost four days before power was restored.
These power interruptions caused by typhoons and other natural calamities are just part of the greater problem on the growing acute power supply shortage projected in the country. If left unattended, we may face another power crisis like the one in the 1990s during the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino, mother of P-Noy.
Testifying before the Senate budget hearing earlier this month, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras admitted that there would be a power supply shortage of at least 300 megawatts (MW) in Luzon alone next year because of inadequate generation and an expected increase in demand. Almendras warned that both Luzon and Mindanao would continue to experience supply shortages next year unless this is addressed right away.
Until recently, Mindanao has been placed under “rotating” blackouts as a power distribution scheme while the hydropower plants were not operating in full capacity due to the long dry spell. In the case of Luzon, Almendras conceded that the reports of energy problems emerging two to three years from now were not accurate because “the truth is next year we will already have a shortage.” I believe him.
In fact, former Meralco top honcho Manolo Lopez who is now the Philippine ambassador-designate to Japan alerted us to this dark possibility. This was about a month ago before he was appointed as envoy, when he hosted a lunch meeting with STAR editors. He advised us to start investing in a generator that could provide back-up electricity for our houses for the blackouts ahead. Lopez candidly intimated to us that he had already upgraded the capacity of his generator at home.
As a result of his first trip abroad in the US last month, President Aquino announced having secured investments that included the construction of new power plants in the country. But it takes at least three years for a new base-load power plant of 1,200-MW capacity to be put on-stream. Hopefully, this dark possibility won’t come to pass.