The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has announced not just one, but two blackouts scheduled for Saturday, March 22, and for Sunday, April 6 that will affect the areas from Calo in San Jose town in the north all the way to Siaton town, south of Dumaguete.
The March 22 blackout will be from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., while the April 6 blackout will be from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Lope Cañete, NGCP District senior manager, informed Noreco II General Manager Atty. Fe Marie Dicen Tagle that NGCP will continue to replace the aluminum conductors on the power lines.
The reconductoring of existing transmission lines to deliver more power from the Amlan 69kV sub-station in Amlan, Negros Oriental is more than 50 percent complete, the NGCP said.
The grid, unfortunately, does not have the capability to localize the blackouts only to specific areas affected by the repair work.
Cañete said that while blackouts like this are usually scheduled on Sundays, the March 22 blackout was meant to accommodate the request of the Professional Regulation Commission that will conduct here the scheduled Licensure Examinations for Teachers on March 23.
The NGCP statement said all works may be finished ahead of time, and power may be restored earlier than scheduled.
The public is also advised to turn off all electrical switches, and wait for five minutes before switching them on, once the power comes back.
Meanwhile, the NGCP is asking the public to exercise prudence in using electricity, noting a surge in demand due to exceptionally-high heat indices in recent days, and unplanned outages of critical power plants.
In a statement, NGCP said the rising demand for power is putting pressure on the supply side.
Last March 5, NGCP had to raise the yellow alert from 5 to 7 p.m as the operating margin was insufficient to meet generation’s contingency requirement.
This, the company said, was putting the grid at risk with the available contingency reserve less than the required operating margin.
Michelle Visera of NGCP Negros said the NGCP would endeavor to complete the reconductoring of transmission lines during another shutdown of the Amlan 69kV line on March 22.
However, if the completion is delayed, another power outage will be scheduled on April 6, she added.
NGCP is undertaking the reconductoring or rewiring of transmission lines to larger cables as a “stop-gap” measure to prevent future Manual Load Shedding of the Amlan sub-station when the demand spikes.
The 69kV line has reached a critical stage as power demand continues to rise, especially in Dumaguete City.
Visera said a permanent solution to address the supply-and-demand for power in the NORECO II areas is the Amlan-Dumaguete 138kV line.
Construction of the line is ongoing but has slowed down as NGCP continues to negotiate with some property owners for access to their lands.
The areas affected by the recent 13-hour brownouts are San Jose, Sibulan, Dumaguete City, Valencia, Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita, and Siaton. (AP with a report from Judy F. Partlow)
