(L-R) NORECO-II General Manager Fe Marie D. Tagle with Technical Services Officer Jerus Agir, and National Grid Corporation of the Philippines representatives, Felix Vedaure and Noel Artillo during the Kapihan sa PIA forum on April 10 in Dumaguete City. (PIA Negros Oriental)
DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental (PIA) — The power sector here has ensured stable, continuous electricity service before, during, and after the midterm election period.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ (NGCP) revealed that they have completed rewiring the Amlan-Dauin 69KV transmission line as part of their commitment to ensure the reliability for the May 2025 elections.
In a Kapihan sa PIA forum, Felix Vidaure of NGCP said there would be no more manual load dropping or power shortage after rewiring or upgrading the wire cables of the transmission line in Amlan.
“We can assure that there is enough power supply that can be carried by 100kv compared to only 69kv which can cater additional load that will be absorbed by the Amlan-Dumaguete transmission line,” said Vidaure.
To strengthen their contingency measures to prevent power interruptions, NGCP vowed to deploy teams of personnel on duty in every substation during election day.
“After the reconductoring, we are now shifting or focusing on the clearing of vegetation to all transmission lines. Statistically, vegetation is the most common problem on line outages,” Vidaure said.
Both Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative (NORECO) I and II and NGCP have been conducting vegetation clearing to remove trees and plants that could potentially come into contact with power lines, leading to shorts and interruptions.
NORECO II General Manager Fe Marie Dicen said they have been coordinating with Commission on Elections (Comelec) and schools designated as polling centers to ensure readiness for the vote-counting machines.
Aside from its manpower deployment, NORECO II is also tapping the associations of electricians, police, and military for emergency support and facility security.
NORECO II has been inspecting polling centers that need transformer replacement, secondary lines corrections, conductor capacity, kilowatt hour meter condition, connection or tapping points, fuse, and protection coordination as well as account status of the schools.
The coverage areas of NORECO II include Pamplona, Tanjay City, Amlan, San Jose, Sibulan, Dumaguete City, Valencia, Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita, Siaton, Sta. Catalina, Bayawan City, and Basay.
Meanwhile, NORECO I General Manager Elvin Denoyo said their preventive maintenance in all substations was completed two weeks ago.
“From today until elections, we don’t have any more plans for power interruptions unless for emergency cases,” said Denoyo.
NORECO I will also be augmenting their workforce and position more of their linemen in strategic areas, particularly in the upland coverage areas.
NORECO I covers the areas from Bais City, Mabinay town until Canlaon City. (JCT/PIA7 Negros Oriental)
