IF YOU think we’re going to talk about the COVID-19 pandemic, no.
We are going to be talking about some sort of epidemic that has been plaguing the natives of “I Am Iloilo City” for as long as I can remember.
This epidemic is not fatal but it can cause stress and irritation, raising someone’s blood pressure causing hypertension which can be fatal.
But all is not lost. Unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, we are not in a helpless situation as efforts are ongoing to eliminate if not minimize this dilemma of flattening the curve so to speak.
So what is this epidemic of sorts?
It is what’s popularly known in common parlance as “brownouts”.
In technical terms a brownout is an intentional or unintentional drop in voltage in an electrical power supply system while a blackout is a complete interruption in power.
The natives just commonly refer to any power interruption as “brownout” lately though the term “total blackout” seems to be coming to play as we have been experiencing Panay Island-wide, including neighboring Guimaras and Negros islands.
These “brownouts “are caused by either intentional or unintentional causes. Intentional “brownouts” are usually done for repair and rehabilitation of power lines and power stations while unintentional or force majeure are caused by accidental trip offs i.e. an animal got electrocuted or a tree fell on a power line.
The longest region-wide “blackout” in Western Visayas – wherein the islands of Panay, Negros and Guimaras suffered massive power outages – happened on Oct. 29 to Oct. 30, 2019. This happened during the watch of Panay Electric Co. (PECO), erstwhile power provider of Iloilo City.
According to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), it was a “grid disturbance” (whatever that means) which resulted in the loss of power in these islands.
Although some natives blamed PECO for its rather slow response in providing alternative power source for the city, it does not really matter anymore as it is already moot and academic.
And then there’s the “brownout” resulting from illegal means and that’s what we’re going to focus our attention to.
These “brownouts” resulting from illegal means are mainly caused by illegal electrical connections a.k.a. “jumpers” overloading the power lines resulting into system overload causing power interruptions resulting into your classic brownout, or the power lines exploding and we have your usual electrical fire that burns down the whole neighborhood.
A technical study by engineering firm Miescor Corp. on the city’s electricity distribution network indicated that there were about 30,000 illegal connections under PECO when it was the electricity distributor in Iloilo City.
“The amount of electricity pilfered from the 30,000 illegal power connections contributed to the huge system losses incurred by PECO that reached 9.3 percent as of 2018, and the cost of this electricity was passed on to the paying regular residential, business and industrial customers,” it said.
Aside from dilapidated and poorly maintained if not antiquated equipment, substations, powerlines and electrical poles left behind by erstwhile power distributor PECO, the biggest problems causing these brownouts dumped on the laps of current Iloilo City power provider are the 30,000 illegal power connections.
When MORE Power took over as power provider of “I Am Iloilo City” it went on a massive campaign against these illegal power connections and to date, from these 30,000 “jumpers” more than 10,000 have already been apprehended. About 700 kilometers of jumper cables wre seized. More than 20 individuals have been charged with violation of the Anti-Pilferage of Electricity Act and Theft of Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Act of 1994 RA 7832, a criminal offense.
What is rather alarming is that a good number of these individuals charged are barangay officials.
To flatten the “brownout” curve, “I Am Iloilo City’s” current power provider, aside from running after these illegal electrical connections a.k.a. “jumpers”, is simultaneously rehabilitating the power distribution infrastructure left behind by its predecessor, bringing it up to par of what a 21st century power service provider should be.
So we go back to our question. Can the “brownout” curve be flattened?
At the pace MORE Power is running after illegal electrical connections a.k.a. “jumpers” and rehabilitation of the power distribution infrastructure, “brownouts” will be greatly minimized if not totally eliminated. Of course, barring natural calamities i.e. super typhoons, massive earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or tsunamis./PN
