The Department of Energy (DOE) said it cannot commit yet if Filipino consumers in the typhoon Odette-battered areas in Visayas and Mindanao will fully regain their electricity services before the Christmas celebrations next week.

In a press briefing, Energy Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella said there is no concrete timeline yet, although he indicated that the relevant stakeholders in the industry will work double-time to fast-track power restoration possibly before Christmas in some areas, if not all of the damaged facilities can be repaired within a one-week timeframe.

“The Department of Energy, together with the Task Force Energy Resiliency, is on board to make sure that we will do our best to provide services immediately. We are looking at it – transmission side and distribution side and also the power plants will all be back on track...we will push ourselves to do it,” he noted, while emphasizing that they will also be putting premium on “safety” for the people who are undertaking restoration works on the ground.

The energy official qualified that one focus in their power service restoration efforts are areas where the COVID-19 vaccines are being dispatched for the inoculation program, although he noted that these specific locations are still being tracked also by the DOE.

“We are focusing on preserving and making sure that the vaccines are all safe, so that we can continue with our fight against COVID,” he pointed out.

Randy Galang, head of Visayas Systems Planning of system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), asserted “We regret to inform you that the feedback coming from our crew is not yet complete, so we don’t have complete assessment as to the extent of the damage.”

In the Visayas, he reported that areas which totally lost their electricity services include Bohol and Biliran. Areas experiencing partial blackouts are parts of Capiz, Antique, Iloilo, Negros Oriental, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte and Cebu.

For Mindanao, the blackout-stricken areas are those in Surigao del Norte and Camiguin. Partially affected are Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Davao Oriental.

As of press time, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) also said it cannot also give definitive figure yet as to the scale of households or population affected, because their field personnel are still assessing situation also on all the domains affected.

In a statement to the media, NGCP similarly conveyed that “there are 15 138-kilovolt lines which are unavailable affecting the entire province of Surigao del Norte, parts of Surigao del Sur, parts of Agusan del Sur and the entire province of Bohol.”

The transmission firm added that three of its 230-kV lines as well as its 350kV high voltage direct current (HVDC) line had also been rendered unavailable.

“NGCP has mobilized its line crew and is currently conducting ground patrols to inspect and assess the impact of the typhoon to its operations and facilities; and simultaneous restoration activities are being conducted on the areas already accessible,” the company said.

Separately, Engineer Kenjie Fagyan of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (PHILRECA) pointed out that based on reports gathered from affected areas, “ECs (electric cooperatives) were able to repair most damages caused by the typhoon and are awaiting to receive and distribute power supply as soon as the system operator is ready.”