By Myrna Velasco While sealed off in their homes under community quarantine, residents of Iloilo City have also been plagued with rotating brownouts because of the maintenance activities slated by its service provider More Electric and Power Corporation. As announced by the company on Sunday (May 17), it needed 13 hours to complete maintenance work at substation 2 or the Jaro substation of the distribution facility that it acquired last March from Panay Electric Company (PECO), the original owner of the power distribution assets. According to Department of Energy (DOE) Director Mario Marasigan, the maintenance activity at the substation was scheduled and that it was expected for completion on the same day. On the reported complaints of consumers affected by the rotating brownouts, the energy official said the department has yet to receive a report from their people and field office in the area. There had been reports that the same substation caused a nine-hour power outage in late March, and those incidents recurred in April and May. For the May 17 maintenance schedule, More Power had informed consumers prior to the 13-hour service interruption, but it was noted that the advisory had not been clear enough, especially since the public had to endure the power supply disruptions while putting up with very hot weather. As claimed by More Power, the Jaro substation had not undergone maintenance for the past six or seven years when it was still under PECO’s charge. However, it was noted that based on records, substation 2 “had undergone preventive maintenance twice during its lifetime,” in addition to other forms of repair and parts replacement that were undertaken on “as needed” basis.