Bacolod city: Power supply has been restored in some areas covered by the Negros Electric and Power Corp., including this highly urbanized city, on Wednesday, after the destruction brought by Typhoon Tino to distribution lines.
According to Philippines News Agency, in a press conference, engineer Bernard Bailey Del Castillo, Negros Power’s chief operating officer and chief technical officer, said that after the total loss of power on Tuesday, initial restoration activities reduced the affected areas to 87 percent before 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
“We determine what needs to be done first, then the next, until we finish all of the ongoing works this week. That’s our promise and our commitment to our consumers that we will add more teams to fast-track the repairs,” he added.
As of 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Negros Power recorded 96 downed electric poles, 65 of which are in Bacolod City alone. Also damaged were 271 electrical conductors, the majority of which, or 175, are also in this city, as well as 15 insulators, and 23 crossarms.
All the transmission lines of Negros Power tripped off on Tuesday morning, resulting in total loss of power in all feeders across the six cities and municipalities within its franchise area, affecting 250,059 consumers. By Wednesday morning, 217,577 customers were still affected by power interruptions.
Del Castillo appealed to the consumers to bear with Negros Power in their continued efforts to restore the power supply. “As of now, we really need your patience and understanding. We need the help of the public. In fact, we asked for an additional team from outside Negros to fast-track the restoration work,” he added.
Del Castillo said about 70 teams composed of more than 300 personnel are simultaneously deployed for the restoration efforts in the cities of Bacolod, Talisay, Silay, and Bago, as well as the municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto. “If there are affected areas not yet included in our reported data, we will continue to receive reports from our consumers. Then we will schedule it,” he said.
