POWER SYSTEM IN CITY IN UTTER DISREPAIR (Exclusive report)

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

ROTTING. IN STATE OF DISREPAIR. TICKING TIMEBOMB.

This is how MORE Electric and Power Corp. described the power distribution system in Iloilo City which it took over from Panay Electric Co. (PECO) on February 28, 2020.

The sorry state of the distribution system prompted the new power distributor to implement maintenance works on substations, transformers, and distributions in the past three months, causing brownouts around the city.

The longest brownout was in Jaro district on May 17, 2020 after MORE Power conducted preventive maintenance work on Jaro substation.

Substations are integral part of the power distribution system as it reduces voltage to a level suitable for local distribution. Apart from stabilizing the system, substations also protect the consumers from sudden drops or surges of electricity.

MORE Power president Roel Castro said their inspections on the substations, transformers, and cables in Iloilo City revealed alarming conditions of the distribution system.

For one, analysis of the substations indicated high levels of dissolved gas due to degradation of oil and paper insulation.

“If we liken it to a person who underwent blood analysis, the oil in the substations have high cholesterol, uric acid, and triglycerides. The substations are very sick because there are gases that are over 100 times over the limit. I am sorry to be frank but bulok (rotten) ang sistema that we took over,” Castro said.

For example, the Mandurriao substation showed high levels of methane, ethane, ethylene, and acetylene which could cause the facility to overheat or even explode.

 

Castro said four of the five substations are over 90 percent loaded against the normal load of 70 to 80 percent.

In its initial investigation via thermal scanning, MORE Power and engineering consultant MiesCor found out that there are over 900 connection points or hotspots, and these include 144 transformers, powerlines and other components of the system.

Castro said they replaced and upgraded 96 transformers and erected 98 new concrete poles and replaced almost 11,000 new electric meters since they took over from PECO. He said they have counted 10 overloaded transformers that exploded in the past three months.

To avoid bigger damage and longer interruptions, MORE Power started the comprehensive Preventive Maintenance of the substations and it needed a maximum of 13 hours to complete the process

“On the part of the substations, we have to undertake the maintenance works and implement brownouts because if we don’t do this now, the facilities will explode, and we will suffer from longer brownouts,” he added.

A week before the scheduled maintenance works, MORE Power conducted massive information dissemination campaign using multimedia – radio, newspaper, social media and even rekorida to the community that will be affected.

Why the massive problem in the distribution system?

MORE Power said the previous distributor PECO failed to implement new capital expenditures for the last 10 years for improvements and upgrading of the facilities.

Engr. Fil Sonza of MORE Power’s Technical Services Division unscheduled power interruptions in the city due to the rotten distribution system that they are trying to fix now.

The problem was exacerbated because of the summer season which increased demand for power and took toll on distribution lines, many of which are undersized, and the already overloaded transformers.

Sonza, who used to be with PECO, said the former distribution utility did not conduct comprehensive preventive maintenance that’s why there was not much scheduled power interruptions during their time but more on unscheduled power interruptions.

“If we liken it to a feria or discos, as long as the sound system is running despite poor quality, it’s good enough for them,” he added.

Engr. Rey Jaleco, project development and management head of MORE Power, said they have plans from 2020 to 2025, particularly in expanding the existing substations and construct new facilities to cater to the growing demand for power in Iloilo City.

Initially, MORE Power started the parallel implementation of its 3-year development plan with a budget of P1.8 billion.

Jaleco said they will add three more substations to expand the distribution system’s capacity.

“Based on those projects, the distribution system will follow because every time you fix or put up a new substation, the distribution system must be expanded or repaired to prevent brownouts,” Jaleco said.

MORE Power said they will construct new substations with better technology which will cost around P300 million each.

Jaleco said the current system that they took over from PECO is very obsolete as it is radial or runs through only a single line which causes cascading brownouts in the entire system.

“We are planning to use a loop system to isolate brownouts instead of a massive outage in the city,” he added.

Castro said the loop system will allow them to redirect supply from a substation or line feeder that conked out to another line so that there will be no or minimal brownouts in terms of coverage and length.

“The system right now is all manual. If there are problems in the system, you to have to manually open or close it. In the new system used in advanced cities, all of these can be done electronically. You can control the system with a computer mouse. That technology is absent in the current systems we took over. I can say that the present technology in Iloilo City is way back in the 1940s, 1950s pa. This is an insult to the city which is held in high regard because of its growth and development,” Castro said.

MORE Power has also purchased a mobile substation and will arrive as soon as the logistics can deliver after the COVID-19 crisis.

The new distributor will also install a much accurate and state of the art monitoring of the system called SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition).

But fixing the facilities is just a band aid solution, according to Castro, as they also need to address the problem of illegal connections which affect the load profile of the city.

PECO tolerated the rampant illegal use of electricity “jumpers” or illegal connections by consumers which contributed to the increase of unprofiled loads to the facilities.

Castro said they were able to address the problem by streamlining or easing requirements for applicants especially the informal settlers or squatters.

MORE Power launched its MORE KONEK Task Force against Illegal Connections and encouraged “jumpers” to apply with streamlined requirements in partnership with the City Government and barangays.

As to response time, Engr. Sonza said they have nine response teams compared to two teams in the previous management.

The teams have complete gears, protection equipment, and trucks so they can respond efficiently. The teams are deployed to the districts for faster response time to any trouble or problems.

MORE Power also has six hotlines but Castro said they will expand the lines under one phone number to cater to more calls.

Castro said they aim to lower trouble call times and increase their response times in three years.

“We cannot do this overnight or in one year. But in three years we will make sure that we can improve the system and make you feel the difference between the old distribution utility and MORE Power,” he added.