THE Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi ordered the concerned agencies on Thursday, October 20, to immediately restore power facilities in areas hit by Typhoons Lawin (Haima) and Karen (Sarika).
Cusi specifically instructed the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to continuously ensure the easy mobilization of assets for the rehabilitation of affected areas.
"We strongly urge the power sector participants to implement strategic contingency measures for the conduct of preventive maintenance and rehabilitation efforts," he said.
He said his office is closely coordinating with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council for the prompt release of regular advisories and assigning technical people on a 24/7 basis for monitoring.
"On the distribution side, NEA reported that affected electric cooperative are now assessing the scope of damage to initiate the restoration of affected facilities within their respective franchises and may activate Task Force Kapatid, a bayanihan restoration effort among electric cooperatives," Cusi said.
Earlier, NEA provided advisories to all affected electric cooperatives to initiate pre-and post-typhoon disaster risk reduction measures.
"We are on top of the situation to immediately normalize the power situation in the typhoon-hit areas," he said. (SDR/Sunnex)