A vast stretch of northern Luzon, including Baguio City and the mountain provinces, was left without power late Sunday night as Supertyphoon Uwan tore through the region with violent winds and torrential rain. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) shut down multiple transmission lines for safety, cutting electricity to the Cordillera provinces of Benguet and Mountain Province, and the Ilocos areas of Pangasinan and La Union.
By early Monday, Baguio City—normally aglow even on foggy nights—remained in total blackout as engineers worked to restore the La Trinidad–Sablan 69kV line, a major link damaged by fallen trees and debris. The disruption has crippled the Benguet Electric Cooperative’s (Beneco) network, forcing residents to rely on generators and candlelight while weather conditions continued to shift between fierce gusts and eerie calm.
Beneco personnel have been in the field since before dawn, braving downed branches and muddy terrain to check feeder lines and help city crews clear obstructions. Similar efforts were reported in La Union, where NGCP teams rushed to repair the Bauang–San Fabian 69kV line, whose failure triggered outages in several substations under the La Union Electric Cooperative.
Officials said restoration work will continue as soon as weather conditions allow, but warned that full power recovery across affected Luzon provinces could take several days depending on the extent of Uwan’s damage.