NGCP Fixes Power Transmission Lines

MANILA, Philippines - The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) reported the restoration of power transmission services to Nueva Ecija, Aurora as well as in Northern Samar following the re-energization of the corporation's transmission facilities. Lilibeth Gaydowen, North Luzon Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Officer, said that electricity was successfully restored to portions of Nueva Ecija Electric Cooperative II Area 2 (NEECO II Area 2) and Aurora Electric Cooperative (AURELCO) franchise areas, which went dark last September 18. Gaydowen said the unplanned power interruption began at 7:44 a.m. and lasted until 11:08 a.m., or after the Cabanatuan-Baler 69-kilovolt (kV) transmission line was re-energized. According to reports, the outage was caused by a broken cross-arm of a pole structure in Barangay Curba, Bongabon, Nueva Ecija. Meanwhile, power transmission services were brought back to Northern Samar on the evening of September 17 after the involved facility, the Palanas Cara-Catarman-Allen/Bobolosan 69-kV transmission line, was re-energized. Visayas Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Officer Elmer Cruz said customers of Northern Samar Electric Cooperative, Inc. (NORSAMELCO) experienced the outage from 9:27 a.m. to 6:56 p.m. on the same date. According to Cruz, the franchise area has also been affected by outages the past few days, including a 14-hour power interruption between the evening of September 16 and the morning of September 17, apparently due to the tripping of Palanas Cara-Catarman 69-kV transmission line. The same transmission line underwent preventive maintenance on September 16 but tripped upon energization, the NGCP said. "NGCP continues to strengthen the transmission network with its regular maintenance activities done in close coordination with NORSAMELCO. Both utilities are working together to improve services to power consumers," the corporation said.