STATE-RUN National Transmission Corp. (Transco) said Tuesday that technical investigations done by its personnel reported that malfunctioning transmission-line protective relay resulted in power interruptions in the adjacent incoming and outgoing transmission lines at its Kibawe substation in Bukidnon. This has caused power outages in some parts of Mindanao.

In a statement, Transco said that the affected areas by the power interruption include the provinces of Davao del Sur and Norte, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan, and the cities of Gen. Santos, Cotabato, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Koronadal.

To prevent a repeat of the problem, Transco president Arthur N. Aguilar assured that he has ordered a thorough rechecking of all the remaining 68 protective relays installed in strategic substations throughout Mindanao amid earlier efforts to check on Transco’s equipment as part of its preventive-maintenance schedules.

Aguilar said that Transco will also immediately install additional transient recorders at the Kibawe substation and other substations throughout Mindanao to complement in the determination of the root cause of power outages.

A transient recorder refers to a device that electronically records in minute detail the events that transpired in a particular substation.

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes expressed the Department of Energy’s appreciation to Davao Light and Power Corp. for helping in power-restoration efforts by operating its embedded Bajada Diesel Plant in Davao City.

“I have advised Aguilar to take the necessary measures to see to it that there would be no malfunction of any kind will happen again in the future,” Reyes said.

The energy chief said that efforts should be exerted to assure customers that these incidents will not happen again.

Aguilar also issued, on behalf of Transco, an apology to electricity consumers in Southern Mindanao following a series of power interruptions in the region.

“We are truly sorry for the inconvenience and problems brought by the repetitive outages to the people in  Mindanao. Notwithstanding our operational vigilance, things like these happen on rare occasions.  But we know this is not an excuse for taking long to solve the problem. We owe it to the consumers to give them reliable power,” Aguilar said.

MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) is set to offer to its customers with a monthly consumption of 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) its time-of-use rates by November.

STATE-RUN National Transmission Corp. (Transco) said Tuesday that technical investigations done by its personnel reported that malfunctioning transmission-line protective relay resulted in power interruptions in the adjacent incoming and outgoing transmission lines at its Kibawe substation in Bukidnon. This has caused power outages in some parts of Mindanao.

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