SEVERAL residents in Negros Occidental will be welcoming the year 2022 in the dark as power has not been fully restored yet in their areas following the recent onslaught of Typhoon Odette.
Engineer Jose Taniongon, officer-in-charge of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), said about 85 to 87 percent of their service areas already have power as of December 25, 2021.
According to Taniongon, power restoration in the highly urbanized City of Bacolod is already at 93 percent, though there are still areas with toppled posts.
As for Bago City, he said, there are areas where electricity is expected to be restored by January next year.
They hope to restore electricity to more areas within the week.
To hasten power restoration in the areas serviced by Ceneco, the More Electric and Power Corp. (More Power) from Panay will be sending a 14-man team of linemen and will be lending their boom and bucket trucks.
More Power and the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) have earlier sent linemen to augment the workforce of the power distribution utility.
Aside from Bacolod and Bago, Ceneco is also catering to electric consumers in the cities of Silay and Talisay, and towns of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto.
For its part, the Necros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco), in a statement, said they are prioritizing the restoration of the 69kV lines which would supply power to their substations.
The electric firm also said that parallel works are being done on the substations’ feeder lines.
As of December 25, the energized substations of Noceco are already at 88.89 percent, while the energized feeders are at 63.33 percent.
Noceco general manager Jonas Discaya said that as soon as all feeders have been energized, they will gradually restore power on the lateral or secondary lines.
But, it should have been cleared to ensure everyone’s safety, Discaya said.
While some areas have energized status, some laterals or secondary lines connected may still be not energized as further clearing and repairs may be needed, he said.
"Also, there might be instances when the secondary line where consumers are attached has been energized and yet power has not been restored to their homes," the official added.
If this happens, consumers are advised to send their account name and number to 0917633 5631 or 0949 814 7896 so the matter will be addressed.
The member-consumers of Noceco are also advised to report any person posing as an employee of the utility asking for money to expedite the restoration process in their area.
Noceco emphasized that the firm does not charge any fees for the repair of damaged distribution lines.
Furthermore, Noceco's management met with representatives from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to discuss power rehabilitation efforts in the southern part of Negros Occidental that was severely impacted by the typhoon.
Linemen from Iloilo Electric Cooperatives I and II were already sent to the area to help speed up the power restoration activities of Noceco in its service areas from Pulupandan to Hiboba-an.
They are part of the Task Force Kapatid for Typhoon Odette of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (Philreca).
In northern Negros Occidental, Noneco general manager Danny Podenvilla said they have restored power to about 90 percent of their service areas.
Only some areas in San Carlos City and Calatrava town have no power now, Pondevilla said, adding that they hope to fully energize the entire areas they catered before the week ends.
Noneco supplies electricity from E.B. Magalona to San Carlos City.*