Lawmaker seeks DOE help in probing power outages

By: Emme Rose Santiagudo

The twin power outages that hit Panay Island last October 29-30, 2019 prompted lloilo City lone district Rep. Julienne “Jam Jam” Baronda to seek help from the Department of Energy (DOE).

On November 5, 2019, Baronda wrote a letter to DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi asking for explanation and recommendation on the two separate power outages that hit Panay Island and portions of Negros Occidental in a span of two days.

“I write in relation to the power outages that hit Panay Island including Iloilo City, last October 29-30. It was distressing to say the least, to everyone who had to undergo the harrowing two-day experience. May I ask for a written explanation on the causes thereto and the measures that may have been put in place in order to prevent the re-occurrence thereof,” she said in her letter.

Recently, Engr. Jose Rey Maleza, director of DOE-Visayas said the central office of DOE will investigate the two power outages.

“The incident report will be submitted by concerned parties to the central office. Our central office will issue an official statement in due time,” Maleza said.

DOE has yet to issue the official results of the investigation.

The blackout first hit Iloilo, Guimaras, Aklan, Capiz, and portions of Negros Occidental at 5:27 p.m. on October 29.

The next day, the Negros-Panay 138-kilovolt submarine cable tripped off causing another power outage in the provinces of Panay Island.

In previous interviews, Engr. Petronilo Madrid, Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC) First Vice President-Panay Site Operations explained that the first power outage was caused by a technical problem in the biggest coal-fired power unit operated by Panay Energy Development Corp (PEDC), a GBPC subsidiary, in LaPaz, Iloilo City.

Madrid said that they detected a technical problem in one of the motors running one of the power plants’ air compressors due to “increasing temperature.”

On the other hand, the power outage on October 30 occurred when the 138-kilovolt (kV) Negros-Panay submarine cable, which is maintained by NGCP, tripped off, he added.

Last Monday, major power sector players – NGCP which manages the transmission lines and links power producers to distribution utilities; GBPC and Palm Concepcion Power Corp (PCPC) that run coal-fired power plants in the city and province of Iloilo; and PECO the current power distributor in Iloilo City – met to come up with better relay coordination and prevent massive power outages.