The Palawan Electric Cooperative (PALECO) clarified Wednesday that part of the supposedly 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. maintenance activity on October 17 was the National Power Corporation’s (NAPOCOR) relocation of poles impacted by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) road expansion project.
PALECO said in a statement that NAPOCOR’s repair work from Barangay Irawan to their substation impacted by the 69kV tie-line was coordinated with their own maintenance operations and is consistent with the national government’s efforts to ensure consistent supply across the country.
“Matatandaan na nitong nakalipas na ika-29 ng Setyembre 2021, hiniling ng NAPOCOR sa PALECO para sa paghihiwalay ng tie-line para sa nauna nang pansamantalang ipinahinto ng kooperatiba upang maiwasan ang posibilidad ng rotational blackouts. Gayunman, inaprubahan ng kooperatiba ang kahilingan ng NAPOCOR sa mga petsang ika-9 at ika-10 ng Oktubre 2021, nguni’t muling ibininbin dulot ng paghagupit ng bagyong Maring sa bansa,” PALECO said.
“Nitong nakalipas na ika-11 ng Oktubre, nagtakda ang PALECO ng annual preventive maintenance ng 2×25 MVA Substation nitong araw ng Sabado (Okt. 16) at Linggo (Okt. 17), kung kaya’t malawakang total blackout sa lungsod ang kinakailangan para sa pagsasagawa ng aktibidad ng kooperatiba,” it said.
The power cooperative said the repair work was intended to take place every Saturday and Sunday in order to avoid widespread outages in the city.
Additionally, PALECO said it asked NAPOCOR to finish its maintenance work on time and aid in the process by removing trees that interfere with the line and lending a boom truck and linemen to guarantee electricity was restored at 5 p.m. on October 17, but to no avail.
“Sa kabila ng pagsisikap ng PALECO at NAPOCOR, ang tapping ng NPC 69kV incoming line para sa PALECO substation ay naantala at nagresulta ng pagkabalam sa power restoration o pagpapailaw muli sa Puerto Princesa na nararapat sanang alas 5 ng hapon maibalik ngunit umabot nang alas 8:27 nang gabi mula sa tie-line. Samantalang ang pagpapanumbalik ng suplay sa mga feeder ay nagsimula naman ganap na alas 8:33 hanggang alas 9:14 ng gabi,” it said.
