Admitting that the deadline for full power restoration this month would not be feasible due to severe damage to the backbone lines, the Department of Energy (DOE) has vowed that 80% of the province’s 55,000 households and businesses will have electricity on or before Dec. 24, 2020.
DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella, who was with National Electrification Administration (NEA) Deputy Administrator Artis Nikki Tortola when they visited Governor Joseph Cua at his office last Saturday, said they will see what else the Task Force Kapatid and the First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative, Inc. (FICELCO) can do to increase the accomplishment.
“The good thing is that we are making progress in Catanduanes, the ground zero for this operation,” Fuentebella stressed, pointing out that from the 3% figure on Nov. 15 figure, 26% of the household connections have been restored as of Nov. 28.
The power restoration task force originally targeted 70% by Dec. 23 but had to redo their plans upon request of Gov. Cua, who wanted the rehab effort to at least attain a “passing grade” of 75%.
“We are confident we will be attain more than the required 75%,” the DOE undersecretary said.
According to the estimates of DOE and NEA, the cooperative sustained total damages of about P305 million, with typhoons Rolly and Ulysses destroying or damaging 90% of power facilities in the Bicol region.
The DOE official also revealed that Sec. Alfonso Cusi has asked the president of the National Power Corporation, Pio Benavidez Jr., to provide two gensets, either through purchase or lease, for use in Baras and Gigmoto where the primary lines sustained heavy damage that it could not be restored before the Christmas Day deadline.
A 600-KVA diesel generating set for Baras has already arrived, with the other one for Gigmoto to be shipped soonest, he declared.
According to a reliable source, the genset now installed at the on-going diversion road near the poblacion was supplied by Sunwest Water & Electric Co. (SUWECO), which allegedly pulled it out of its power plant inside the NPC Viga Diesel Power Plant.
The source, as well as NPC Vice President Rogel Teves, did not indicate where the other genset to be deployed to Gigmoto would be installed.
Under the “islanding” mode of operation, only the poblacion barangays of the two towns would be served by the gensets, with the restoration of electricity in the barangays in between Bato and Baras, Baras and Gigmoto, and Gigmoto and Viga backbone sections to take sometime longer.
Baras’ eight poblacion barangays with a load of 200 kilowatts was supposed to be energized last Sunday afternoon but the genset personnel had to wait for FICELCO’s clearance to allow Task Force Kapatid linemen to finish their jobs along the downed primary lines for safety reasons.
VP Teves also disclosed that the Balongbong mini-hydro power plant is also ready to operate after the tie line from the site to FICELCO was energized.
He announced that Nursery and Paraiso in San Miguel town can be energized anytime, with SUWECO capable of supplying 2.7 megawatts of power to the grid.
Work along the Virac-Codon 69KV transmission lines has been completed, with the restoration of the Marinawa and Codon substations finished on Monday, Nov. 30. Its energization would shoulder the load along the San Andres-Caramoran line and ensure 24/7 electricity to energized northern towns, the NPC official said.
Most probably, the genset for Gigmoto will arrive Wednesday (Dec. 2), with the town center to have power on or before the weekend, he added,
“We are willing to help restore the backbone lines from Bato to Baras to speed up the restore power to the eastern part of Catanduanes,” VP Teves emphasized, as he asked member-consumer-owners to assist the cooperative in reconnecting their service drop wires.
“Don’t worry, NPC President Pio Benavidez Jr. is fully committed to help restore power in Catanduanes,” he said.
In a separate statement to the Tribune, the official said consumers in the Baras and Gigmoto poblacions whose households have been energized using the gensets would pay the same power cost as the rest of consumers in the island.
As it had requested the operation of the gensets for the islanding of the two town centers, Napocor will execute back-to-back, short-term contracts with FICELCO and the private power supplier, with NPC shouldering fuel, oil and related costs for now. The arrangement will probably last until January 2021 or when the backbone lines are rehabilitated and the households reconnected to the grid, he said.
On the other hand, the number of line crews assigned to connections service drop wires to house has also been increased, as Meralco One Foundation and Task Force Kapatid crews have completed many backbone and secondary lines.
Teams from CASURECO 2 and CASURECO 3 are also coming in after completing their own power restoration jobs in the Bicol mainland province, with even cooperatives in Mindanao itching to volunteer but for the constraint of travel time.
Coordination is being conducted with Gov. Cua for synergy in efforts to providing the volunteers with suitable accommodations and that their transport into and out of the island through the ferry service.
“Sec. Cusi asked us to make sure we are very efficient in sending out task force personnel and to check on their living conditions and their food, kasi nami-miss na rin nila ang kanilang mga pamilya,” Usec. Fuentebella bared.
“We are here to boost the morale of linemen, to make them happy as they are the only ones who can do it,” he said, “but the good thing is they are willing to complete the job.”
“They will be coming home for Christmas and they will be back after the New Year,” Fuentebella disclosed.
The entire energy family – DOE, NEA, NPC, Transco, NGCP, the private sector – is working on this together, the energy undersecretary stated.
On the other hand, NEA Deputy Administrator Tortola said that line crews have been deployed in different locations, targeting specific load centers and concentrations of consumers.
“Baka hindi natin maabot ang 100% energization target kasi masyado talagang malalayo ang ibang barangay at medyo malaki ang tatrabahuhin,” he added.
On the desire of task force teams to return to their homes and be with their families on Christmas Day after spending 14-day quarantine in their respective localities, Tortola disclosed that the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (PhilRECA) has committed that they will come back to finish the job.
“Tao lang ang aalis at iiwanan nila ang kanilang mga equipment para may gagamitin sila pagbalik,” he emphasized, adding that it has been the practice of Task Force Kapatid that it will not leave an area until it is 100% energized.
There will be a slowdown in the pace of restoration but FICELCO will not stop reconnecting drop wires, he said.
On FICELCO’s bid for financial assistance for the rehab effort, Tortola said that its application for a P25 million loan with NEA has already been approved.
As of Nov. 28, a total of 322 personnel from 39 electric cooperatives have been working with FICELCO in the power restoration effort, with three more teams arriving last Sunday and more could be coming.
Tortola also appeared to consumers using gensets to switch off their FICELCO connection in the main breaker or switch as leaving it on could result in electricity coursing out of their homes through the service drop wires and electrocuting linemen.
Meanwhile, a report of the FICELCO management as of 7 P.M. of Nov. 28, 2020 showed that power has been restored to 11,391 homes out of the 55,658 household connections, for a 28.10% accomplishment.
General Manager Raul Zafe, who acts as emergency restoration manager, said in the report that a total of 15,124 totally damaged households cannot be energized.
These are in Bagamanoc (122), Baras (1,976), Bato (2,112), Caramoran (258), Gigmoto (741), Pandan (88), Panganiban (149), San Andres (2,769), San Miguel (1,210), Viga (417) and Virac (5,262).
Another 28,169 partially-damaged households are subject for inspection by FICELCO linemen prior to energization, GM Zafe said.
As of said date, the status of household power restoration by town is as follows: Bagamanoc, 38.21%; Baras, 0%; Bato, 15.65%; Caramoran, 18.3%; Gigmoto, 0%; Pandan, 98.2%; Panganiban, 49.9%; San Andres, 0%; San Miguel, 0%; Viga, 48.71%; and, Virac, 22.58%.
A report of the FICELCO management as of 6 P.M. of Nov. 27, 2020 showed that power has been restored to 10,673 homes out of the 55,658 household connections, for a 26.33% accomplishment.
General Manager Raul Zafe, who acts as emergency restoration manager, said in the report that a total of 15,124 totally damaged households cannot be energized.
These are in Bagamanoc (122), Baras (1,976), Bato (2,112), Caramoran (258), Gigmoto (741), Pandan (88), Panganiban (149), San Andres (2,769), San Miguel (1,210), Viga (417) and Virac (5,262).
Another 28,169 partially-damaged households are subject for inspection by FICELCO linemen prior to energization, GM Zafe said.
As of said date, the status of household power restoration by town is as follows: Bagamanoc, 38.21%; Baras, 0%; Bato, 10.4%; Caramoran, 18.3%; Gigmoto, 0%; Pandan, 98.2%; Panganiban, 49.9%; San Andres, 0%; San Miguel, 0%; Viga, 48.71%; and, Virac, 17.91%.
While the original target date of restoration is Dec. 4, 2020, the cooperative said this is based on the assumption that the requested number of task force teams will be available.
With inspection and damage assessment still on-going in Bagamanoc, Caramoran, Gigmoto, Pandan, Panganiban and Viga, the cost of actual damage inflicted by super typhoon Rolly on FICELCO’s power assets in the other five towns have reached P133 million as of said date.
GM Zafe also revealed that crews are now concentrating on energizing household connections, especially in some load concentrations, with barangays in far locations to take from 15 days to a month to complete.
However, he explained that the pace of energization could taper off once the task force members leaves for their Christmas break.
He also appealed to the FICELCO member-consumer-owners to pay their bills even if they belong to the lifeline sector covered by the COVID-19 DOE guideline that exempts those 40-kWh consumers from being disconnected if they don’t pay.
He explained that their payments could help the cooperative’s P20,000 to P30,000 daily logistical support for the Task Force teams in the form of fuel and other requirements.
During the press conference at the E-Crown Hotel in Virac last Sunday, Usec. Fuentebella bared that he has discussed with Gov. Cua an out-of-the-box strategy to help the abaca industry: using solar-powered spindling machines to increase the productivity of abaca farmers and thus encourage them to use electricity more.
On the other hand, he said he has advised FICELCO management to concentrate on areas which are its bread-and-butter and to come up with better designs for pole installation to minimize damage during typhoons.