Monday, January 12, 2009 Power rationing in force in Zambo, MisOcc By Ryan Rosauro
OZAMIZ CITY -- Power rationing is in force across the entire Zamboanga Peninsula, Misamis Occidental and about half of Lanao del Norte because National Transmission Corporation (Transco) has been prevented by bad weather to repair the tower that was bombed Saturday dawn.
The blast resulted to these areas, with a population of over three million people, being cut off from the Mindanao grid which sources power supply mainly from the Agus hydroelectric generation complex in Lanao del Norte.
The downed power pylon, located in Barangay Tingin-tingin in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, carries a 138-kilovolt transmission line that connects the northwestern Mindanao region to the Agus complex through the Abaga switch.
At present, power outage is experienced by households every two hours, meaning electricity is only available for a total of 12 hours a day. This has been the arrangement since Saturday noon.
According to Emmanuel D. Abellanosa, TransCo's assistant vice president for Mindanao operations and maintenance, the power supply being distributed throughout the region comes from Western Mindanao Power Corporation's power generation plant in Sangali, Zamboanga city.
It was commissioned into service following the Saturday attack.
However, the Sangali plant can only provide 90 megawatts of the region's 150-megawatt demand, said Avelino Dawis, manager of Transco's Lanao District Office.
Abellanosa had said the power pylon can be restored within two or three days after repairs have started.
But heavy rains since Sunday have prevented the start of repair works, said Beth Martinez, corporate communications officer of Transco in northwestern Mindanao.
Martinez said the military gave clearance Sunday afternoon to Transco's engineering team to enter the area where the downed pylon is located but the repair crew's convoy got stuck in mud as they negotiated the road.
On Sunday morning, Transco attempted to bring emergency restoration system (ERS) materials and crew into the area via a chopper but was again prevented by bad weather.
Martinez said Transco seeks to install an emergency structure to temporarily replace the damaged steel tower so that power can begin to be wheeled into the transmission line it carries.
She added the company's crew will undertake repair works under tight security by military and police.
The vicinity of Transco's downed tower is known to be infested with Moro rebels.
Meanwhile, a government intelligence source said the downing of Transco's power pylon may have been carried out by Moro rebels in the area "but not necessarily under orders of the group." He refused to elaborate further.
