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Western Visayas reels from power blackouts

Philippines | Luzon

Western Visayas reels from power blackouts

By Tara Yap

ILOILO CITY – Western Visayas is still reeling from the impact of long power blackouts which coincided with the searing heat since Thursday, April 27. Power is back in majority of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental as well as Iloilo City, the regional capital of Western Visayas, on Sunday, April 30. The blackout was traced to the grid managed and operated by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) which issued conflicting public announcements that included blaming a coal-fired power generator here. It was only during an online meeting arranged by Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. with Department of Energy (DOE) officials and other local executives last Saturday afternoon, April 29, that NGCP bared what happened. The blackout last April 27 and 28 affected the whole region and was due to the tripping of the 69kV transmission line used by NGCP in Bacolod-Silay in Negros Occidental as a result of overvoltage. On Friday, the 69 kV transmission line in Santa Barbara, Iloilo tripped due “to high system frequency.” On Saturday, only Panay Island experienced power blackouts, after NGCP asked distribution utilities in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo and Iloilo City to manually drop their power loads. During the weekend power blackout, many were sleep deprived. Those who can afford stayed in hotels, pension houses, and motels. Others slept outside their houses due to the hot and humid weather. While power is back in many areas of Western Visayas, residents have been warned of rotational power blackouts.

Related Tags

Blackout National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) Western Visayas

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