CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Thousands of consumers expressed their outrage on the social media accounts of the Pampanga II Electric Cooperative (Pelco 2) and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) after an 18-hour power outage hit areas covered by the power cooperative.
The power outage started on the evening of July 16 until midday of July 17. Pelco 2’s announcement of the power outage alone received some 8,000 mixed anger and spam comments from consumers.
The power outage was brought about by leaning pole in the middle of a flooded lot in Guagua town. This caused interruption on some portion of NGCP Hermosa - Guagua 69kV Line
NGCP, on its Facebook page, said that work on the leading, which also had a cut overhead ground wire, had to be done in the morning for the safety of line personnel. NGCP workers immediately worked on the leaning pole to restore power to areas of Pelco 2 affected by the power outage.
The power outage affected consumers in Guagua and Santa Rita, Bacolor, (except barangays Calibutbut and Maliwalu), and areas in Sasmuan like Barangays Sto. Tomas, San Nicolas 2nd, San Nicolas 1st, Sta Lucia, San Pedro, Sta Monica, and San Antonio Salu in Porac town were also affected.
Electricity has been restored in most areas by 1 pm on July 17. Irritated consumers cursed and hurled hard words on both Pelco 2 and NGCP. Some even called for a formal investigation on the repeated power outages by Pelco 2 and NGCP during the duration of the start of the quarantine period. Several consumers who are working at home also said that they have lost part of their earnings due to the power outage.