Power down in Northern, Eastern Samar over Ruby

MANILA, Philippines – Power in Northern and Eastern Samar went down on Saturday, December 6,  as Typhoon Ruby (international name: Hagupit) affected the transmission service in the area, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) reported.

“NGCP’s power transmission service in Northern Samar is affected by typhoon Ruby due to the tripping at 12:12 pm of the 69 kilovolt (kV) Palanas Cara-Catarman-Bobolosan/Allen lines transmitting power to the NORSAMELCO,” the NGCP posted on its Twitter account on Saturday.

The NGCP’s power transmission service in Eastern Samar has also been affected by Typhoon Ruby due to the tripping at 11:04 a.m. of the 69kV Taft Feeder transmitting power to the ESAMELCO franchise area.

Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said in a radio interview that distribution lines, which source power from transmission lines, are vulnerable and may topple along the path of Typhoon Ruby, the state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported Saturday.

The report said Petilla is also worried that temporary structures providing grid connections in Cebu, Samar, Leyte, and Panay, are not as sturdy compared to permanent ones.

The permanent structures, which folded to Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) in 2013, will take a year to be completed, he said.

Petilla, however, said the government is prepared for the situation.  

“We know the situation already, so we are ready to restore the falling towers. We are prepared to restore as soon as possible,” he said.

As of 3 pm Saturday, December 6, the following transmission lines and facilities are affected by Typhoon Ruby:

• Pitogi-Mulanay 69-kV line in franchise area of Mulanay, Macalelon, Catanauan in South Luzon
• Naga-Labo 230-kV Line 2 in Luzon
• PalanasCara-Allen 69-kV Line in franchise area of Allen, Victoria, San Isidro, Lavezares in Visayas
• Paranas-Borongan 69-kV Line in franchise area of Sulat, Taft, Can-avid, Dolores, Oras, San Policarpo, Arteche, Jipapad, Maslog, Borongan, San Julian, Maydolong, Llorente, Salcedo, Guiuan, MacArthur, Hernani, Quinapundan, Giporlos, Balangiga, Lawaan in Visayas
• Sara-Balasan 69-kV line in parts of Iloilo in Visayas

The NGCP clarified though that loss of power may be caused by affected transmission facilities of NGCP or distribution facilities of local distribution utilities or electric cooperatives.

“Specific cities and municipalities affected by the power interruptions are determined by concerned distribution utilities, unless the outage affects the entire franchise area,” NGCP said.

NGCP said restoration measures will start as soon as the weather permits. – Rappler.com