Tuesday, July 17, 2007 Power coop: More blackouts in Baguio, 4 Benguet towns
OVER 100,000 power consumers in Baguio and nearby Benguet towns will experience frequent outages in the coming days if the National Transmission Corporation (Transco) will not rehabilitate their power lines in accordance with Grid Code specifications.
Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco) general manager Gerardo Verzosa said the recent five-hour blackout experienced in Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet would be repeated when Transco's power lines fail.
He said power consumers in the towns of Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, and La Trinidad would encounter longer power shortages in case something happens to Transco's main power line, which supplies the power needs of Beneco customers.
Under the Grid Code approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission, Transco is required to install alternative lines aside from its existing power lines to ensure that no serious power interruption would compromise the interest of consumers in Baguio and Benguet.
The whole of Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan and Tuba suffered from a five-hour blackout in the early evening of May 25 when Transco's power line from where Beneco taps electricity suddenly tripped off, two days after the conduct of initial rehabilitation works in preparation for the installation of double switches that would guarantee reliability of power supply.
Verzosa pointed out that the rehabilitation of Tranco's power lines must form part of the company's five-year development and rehabilitation program to ensure reliability and quality of power delivered to consumers.
However, Transco division manager for Western Benguet Fernando Gadon said they are still finalizing the survey for the full rehabilitation of their power lines before submitting this for inclusion in their five-year development plan.
Gadon said it is their central office that decides on such matters but they were not remiss in submitting the needed requirements to justify its inclusion in the company's development plan.
Both officials agreed they would work closely together to ensure the delivery of electricity to consumers and prevent the occurrence of future blackouts that would grossly inconvenience the ordinary consumers. (DS)
