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By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

THE power crisis could worsen and result in longer hours of daily blackouts in the city and elsewhere in Mindanao even during the Christmas and New Year’s Day celebrations, warned an executive of the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co. (Cepalco).

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Ralph Paguio, Cepalco vice president, said this even as he pointed out that the supply of power from the National Power Corp. Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Napocor-Psalm) has remained insufficient.

Cepalco has effected rotating two to three hour blackouts in the city daily.

Paguio sounded alarm bells, saying the power situation could worsen in the coming days, and spoil the upcoming Christmas and New Year celebrations.

He blamed the worsening power crisis on the El Niño phenomenon that has adversely affected Mindanao’s hydroelectric power generation capacity.

Paguio said the water levels of Mindanao’s primary sources of hydroelectic power–the Pulangi and Agus plants–have reportedly receded to critical levels because of insufficient rainfall due to the El Niño.

“Yes, the Christmas and New Year celebrations will be affected because we have an El Niño situation,” he said.

The NGCP has issued a system advisory that the Mindanao grid is on red alert after the contingency reserve dropped to zero.

Elizabeth Ladaga, spokesperson of the National Grid Corp. (NGCP), said the firm is working to ensure that Mindanao would be blackout-free on Christmas and New Year’s day.

Ladaga said the NGCP has not scheduled any maintenance work from Dec. 15 up to New Year’s day to avoid blackouts.

She said the NGCP was making sure all its facilities and lines would be in “good running condition” by Dec. 14.

But the NGCP, she said, would be dependent on Napocor-Psalm.

“Pero bisan pag condition ang among tanang power facilities, apan kon kulang lang gihapon ang kuryente nga i-supply sa Napocor, dili malikayan nga  mag-brownout gihapon ta,” said Ladaga.

Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr., chairman of the city council’s committee on energy, said some industrial firms, the biggest power consumers in Mindanao, were expected to shut down their plants for preventive maintenance beginning on Dec. 15.

Lao said this could bring Mindanao’s consumption of electricity down, and ensure blackout-free Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Meanwhile in Davao, the franchise areas of the Davao Light and Power Co. experienced longer blackouts of up to three hours starting on Thursday.

Before that, DLPC has been implementing rotating power interruptions from one to two hours. DLPC earlier said it expects an improvement in the power situation when the Therma South Inc. coal-fired power plant goes online after an emergency shutdown.

DLPC, which has a 50mw contract from the TSI’s 150 mw unit, expected to improve the situation last week. TSI’s 150 mw unit went on an emergency shutdown last month due to technical problems.

DLPC’s contract with TSI decreased from 30mw to 19mw due to the preventive maintenance service (PMS) of one of its four units with a capacity of 45mw.

DLPC vice president and CEO Arturo Milan Milan noted that DLPC has been sourcing power from TSI even if its second unit is still in a commissioning phase. The unit is expected to have its full commercial operation by late January or early February next year.

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