Cepalco, Moresco 1 get ready for polls

By LITO RULONA
Correspondent

THE power distributors here and in Misamis Oriental have put in place measures to prevent a power outage during the automated synchronized national and local elections next week.

Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co. (Cepalco) senior vice president Ralph Paguio and Misamis Oriental Rural Electric and Service Cooperative (Moresco I) institutional services department manager Edna Diango assured the public that there will be no blackout during the conduct of the election on Monday.

Since February, Paguio said, Cepalco has been preparing for the elections. He said the firm would field repair teams near polling places all over the service area of Cepalco so they could respond immediately in case of power problems.

Paguio said Cepalco would be closely coordinating with the Department of Education (Deped) and the City Engineer’s Office.

Cepalco has also purchased and prepared starters and lights in case the need arises.

Pagiuo said Cepalco has had a management meeting with big power consumers in the city early this month. Representatives of the firms that are part of the Interruptible Load Program (ILP were asked to reduce their power consumption on Monday to ensure that there would be a sufficient supply of power here on election day.

“Our objective is to have a 100-percent power supply on election day,” Paguio said.

But he said Cepalco cannot guarantee anything because the power industry has three sectors: generation, transmission, and system operation.

He however noted that the vote counting machines (VCMs) could be operated for hours even without electricity.

“Kung mahimo diha nato i-abay ang atong mga generator sets sa mga polling places. Mo-appeal sab mi sa consuming public to use their electricity efficiently during election period,” he said.

Meanwhile, Diango said Moresco I and law enforcement groups would protect installations in some areas in Misamis Oriental. She said Moresco I and authorities have already identified possible areas that are prone to sabotage.

“All crews (would be) on stand-by status in different areas so they could respond immediately. Organized electricians have also been asked to help watch the lines in every municipality,” said Diango.