A transmission tower of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). The NGCP aims to complete the replacement of the remaining 55 wooden poles in this city and nearby towns within the year to enhance power transmission reliability. (Photo courtesy of NGCP)
TACLOBAN CITY – The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is eyeing to complete the replacement of the remaining 55 wooden poles in this city and nearby towns within the year to enhance power transmission reliability.
Ricardo Lozano, district manager of NGCP for Leyte and Samar provinces, said in a press briefing Friday that the replacement should have been completed in 2024, but it was not realized due to business operators’ requests to delay the project.
“We need the cooperation of power consumers since we must cut the power supply for hours, affecting the city and nearby towns under the franchise area of the Leyte 2 Electric Cooperative (Leyeco 2),” Lozano told reporters.
The NGCP must shut down the power supply for 12 hours to replace 10 wooden poles. Power interruptions are normally scheduled on weekends.
The NGCP’s Babatngon-Arado 69 kilovolt (kV) transmission line brings power to this city, the regional capital of major businesses. It also serves the nearby towns of Palo and Babatngon in Leyte.
These areas have over 90,000 power consumers.
Lozano said Leyte is one of the priority areas for transmission line upgrades, given its vulnerability to strong typhoons.
New overhead transmission lines can withstand winds of up to 300 kph, ensuring the reliability of power transmission services even after destructive calamities.
Wood poles transmit electricity with a maximum voltage of 69 kV.
The poles are old and no longer reliable. Their construction dates back to the pre-privatization period, when state-owned National Power Corp. was still managing the country’s transmission business.
The NGCP and Leyeco 2 organized a press briefing to explain the 10-hour power shutdown that affected Tacloban and two towns during the New Year celebration.
The blackout began at 10:11 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2024, and power was restored around 7:45 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2025.
The NGCP said the widespread outage was caused by a cut conductor around two meters away from the insulators in Diit village in Tacloban City along the Babatngon-Arado 69kV line. (PNA)
