Petilla: All Yolanda homes will have power by March

MANILA, Philippines – While all towns devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) have been re-connected to the grid after Christmas, not all households in the areas have been energized.

“It is not as easy as everybody thinks,” but the Energy Secretary Jericho Carlos Petilla vowed to energy all affected households by March.

In an interview with Rappler on Friday, January 17, Petilla said the Department of Energy (DOE) is working closely with local government units, targetting to have at least 80% of households still without power connected to the grid by February.

“We’re making sure that electricity goes to households, which is a challenge for us. It’s not as easy as everybody thinks,” he said.

The energy chief explained that LGUs and homeowners were not prepared to connect to the grid and receive electricity. Residents were unable to get the fire permits required and fix the electrical wiring of their homes back in December, for example.

“They were still not ready. Nobody expected we’d be that fast [in reconnecting towns to the grid],” Petilla added.

Petilla resigned from his post in late December after failing to meet his self-imposed deadline to energize all towns struck by the super typhoon by Christmas. The President, however, refused to accept the resignation, pointing out that only 3 towns were left out and these were connected to the grid 14 hours after Petilla’s deadline.

The secretary explained then that his department’s job was to ensure that the transmission facilities and lines damaged by the typhoon were repaired and energized. He stressed that it was up to the local government and homeowners to ensure that houses are capable of connecting to the grid, and receiving electricity.

Yolanda struck the Visayas on November 8, leaving almost 900,000 homeless. The super typhoon also damaged more than 1.14 million houses, according to the National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council.

Supply and demand down

Petilla also said power supply-and-demand in the Visayas has not gone back to normal, and have in fact gone down significantly after the typhoon.

Power supply in the Visayas has been reduced after the Leyte geothermal power plant sustained heavy damage during the onslaught of Yolanda. The Energy Development Corporation, owner of the plant, said that it expects its 112.5-megawatt (MW) Tongonan plant to resume full operations by first quarter of 2014.

Petilla said the lack of supply is offset by the lower demand from the region. “Supply has gone down but demand has gone down too,” Petilla said.

He cited that some towns even had zero demand. “In two towns in Tacloban, power demand [combined] is 45 MW, but it has gone down to even zero,” he added.

The power demand-and-supply outlook is expected to go back to normal after power is restored in homes by March, he said.

Petilla also stressed that there is no politics involved in determining where power is restored first. “We are spared from politics when it comes to power restoration…. Everyone wants it and there’s no one who can do it and take the job,” he said. – Rappler.com