DOE directs NGCP to address power system failure in Visayas

The Department of Energy  has directed the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to immediately address the partial system blackout being experienced by electricity consumers in the Visayas.

In a statement on Saturday, the DOE said Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi made the directive upon receiving the message from the Visayas office of the NGCP, and upon monitoring the social media accounts of the affected distribution utilities in central Philippines. 

In a statement on Facebook, NGCP said an unscheduled power interruption is affecting parts of Cebu, Leyte-Samar, and Bohol at 11:56 p.m. on August 20.

“Gradual restoration of power transmission services to affected power customers of NGCP started in Cebu at 12:52 a.m., while the last feeder energized in Leyte-Samar was at 5:46 a.m., and in Bohol at 5:48 a.m.

NGCP said it is expediting the re-energization of its Isabel Substation.

“Initial finding [indicates that] a lightning strike caused the simultaneous tripping of the Colon-Cebu 138 kilovolt (kV) Lines 1, 2, and 3, and Colon-Quiot 138kV Line, which triggered the partial system blackout,” it said.

Cusi told the grid operator to provide the immediate remedy "to this ‘system failure’, to explain to its customers the reason for this, and to prevent this from happening again.”

The Energy chief has also called the attention of the Energy Regulatory Commission, the regulator of the Philippine power industry, to look into the matter. —Ted Cordero/LBG, GMA News