ILOILO City – In light of the festive season, three distribution utilities in the province of Iloilo assured that they would try to achieve zero power interruptions amid the Christmas and New Year’s Day celebrations.
During the “Year-End Joint Media Conference” of Iloilo Electric Cooperatives (Ileco) I, II and III on Friday morning, Dec. 15, commitments on this were made.
Atty. James Balsomo II, general manager of Ileco III, said all scheduled power interruptions for Ileco III have already been carried out in November.
“We hope nga tani this holiday season, kon puede Christmas and New Year probably ma-zero ang power interruption, kon puede, amo na ang aim naton subong. We are serious about that. Wala na kita sang scheduled power interruption subong nga December to give way sa aton members-owners and consumers to enjoy the holiday with their family,” he said.
ILECO III successfully carried out this goal last year, Balsomo noted, which makes him hopeful for this year.
However, he emphasized that there are situations or incidents beyond the control of Ileco III, such as problems with the distribution system of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
“We are careful gid pag-abot sa holiday season, ginatinguhaan naton ma-arrest totally ang power interruption, and so far we are making progress on that,” he added.
Meanwhile, Engr. Jose Eric Redmond Roquios, general manager of Ileco II, said starting this week, they forego all scheduled brownouts and have completed preventive maintenance works.
“So ang pangabay namon sa amon consumers nga dapat medyo magkinot man kita maggamit sang aton kuryente. Mga unnecessary nga load indi naton pagpa-andaron kay usually ang naga-cause sang brownout amo ang overloading,” Roquios said.
He explained that when a transformer is overloaded, there is a tendency for the electrical wiring that connects the transformer and the line into the household to burn.
But Roquios assured that in instances like this, their landline is 24/7 on call and open to cater to concerns. Response teams, if troubleshooting is needed, are ready anytime, he added.
The Visayas have a sufficient power supply, he noted.
“I think we have surplus sa generation nga makaya pa man sang generation nga suplayan ang tanan nga private and electric cooperatives diri sa Visayas this coming Christmas,” Roquios said.
For his part, Engr. Miguel Paguntalan Jr., general manager of Ileco I, said although they have remaining scheduled power interruptions this Saturday, Dec. 16, this is for targeted or selected areas only.
“Rest assured that before Christmas next week, we will stop all the scheduled interruptions. We will provide our consumers with an efficient power supply without interruption,” Paguntalan assured this, as well as their assistance if any technical problems arise.
“We will be responding quickly if there are certain areas where there may be a power interruption,” he added./PN
