NGCP linemen repairing damaged transmission lines in Albay and Sorsogon which were badly hit by Tropical Storm Kristine. NGCP Facebook page 

NGCP restores several transmission lines but many still unavailable

MANILA (UPDATE) — Around 397,000 Meralco customers were affected by service interruptions as of 12 noon Thursday, the power distributor said. 

Most of these are in the provinces of Laguna and Cavite, while there are also some in parts of Rizal, Quezon, Batangas, and the rest are in Metro Manila and Bulacan, Meralco said.

“Rest assured that we are closely monitoring the situation and our crews are working non-stop to restore service as soon as possible," said Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga.

Meralco said its charitable arm One Meralco Foundation (OMF), has also mobilized employee-volunteers for disaster response efforts. 

"OMF is set to distribute relief packs to evacuees and families severely affected by the storm in Bicol region today," Meralco said. 

The company said power outages and other concerns may be reported through Meralco's official social media pages on Facebook and on X, formerly Twitter. 

"They may also text their concerns to 0920- 9716211 and 0917-5516211 or contact the Meralco Hotline at 16211 and 8631-1111," it said.

NEA REPORT

Based on the report of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) as of 11 a.m. Thursday, there are 1.225 million connections which do have power supply, mostly in the Bicol region.

Multiplied by the average number of persons in a household, that translates to over 6 million Filipinos without power, higher than Wednesday's number of almost 4 million. 

NEA director Engineer Ric Campoto said the electric cooperatives are already fixing the damaged facilities, but in flooded areas, the water needs to subside first before energization can happen.

Of the 77 electric cooperatives monitored, 36 have partial power interruption while 5, all in Bicol, are totally without power. 

SEVERAL NGCP LINES STILL UNAVAILABLE

Meanwhile, the National Grid Corp of the Philippines said it has restored several transmission lines downed by Kristine, but other lines remained unavailable.

The following transmission lines are unavailable:

Luzon

Calaca-Balayan-Nasugbu/Calatagan 69kV line

Customer affected: BATELEC I

Batangas-Mabini-Cuenca 69kV line

Customer affected: BATELEC II

Naga-Iriga 69kV Line (partially energized)

Customer affected: CASURECO III

Tiwi C-Pawa 69kV Line

Customer affected: ALECO

Batangas-Taysan 69kV Line

Customer affected: BATELEC II 

Bay-PGI/Calamba 69kV Line

Customer affected: BATELEC II 

Lumban-Caliraya 69kV Line

Customer affected: FLECO

Visayas

Paranas - Quinapondan 69kV Line (partially energized)

Customer affected: ESAMELCO

Ormoc-San Isidro 69kV Line (partially energized)

Customer affected: DORELCO

NGCP said the it has restored the Labrador-San Carlos 69kV transmission line in Luzon which affects parts of CENPELCO

The power grid operator said its line crews are currently conducting patrols and that simultaneous restoration activities are also being conducted in areas already accessible.

NGCP Public relations officer Trish Roque said there are facilties that have been restored but there are also additional lines which bogged down today.

Roque said safety of crew is of utmost importance especially in flooded areas so the NGCP cannot guarantee when the affected lines will be restored. —With a report from Alvin Elchico, ABS-CBN News

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