Households with power disruptions down to 360,000 – Meralco

MANILA, Philippines — The number of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) customers that had power disruptions and outages have declined to around 360,000 from a peak of more than half a million at the height of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine.

Meralco said as of noon yesterday, only 360,489 customers were affected by the tropical storm, down from a peak of 566,416 on the evening of Oct. 24.

A majority of affected areas are in Cavite, Laguna and Batangas while the rest are in Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan and Quezon, according to the company’s press briefing yesterday.

Based on its latest update, at least 191,186 Meralco customers in Cavite still had power outages from the total 900,095 customers affected in Cavite.

In Batangas, some 39,133 households had power disruptions, 18,035 in Metro Manila, 13,847 in Rizal, 4,773 in Bulacan and 3,468 in Quezon.

Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications Joe Zaldarriaga committed that power services in the majority of the remaining affected households would be restored before Saturday.

“Following last night’s strong winds and torrential rains, we would like to ask for our customers’ patience and understanding as we have to follow protocols and prioritize their safety, especially in flooded areas,” Zaldarriaga said.

“Our crews are tirelessly working to restore services to most of the affected customers by the end of the day,” he added.

?In a related development, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said five power transmission lines in Luzon were still unavailable or partially unavailable yesterday because of the impact of Kristine.

The affected power lines were Bolinao 69kV Line, which has been partially energized, Batangas-Mabini-Cuenca 69kV line, Batangas-Taysan 69kV Line and Naga-Iriga 69kV Line, which has also been partially energized, according to the NGCP.

It said one 500kV transmission line was unavailable as of yesterday afternoon.

NGCP said it has mobilized its line crews and is currently conducting patrols while simultaneous restoration activities are also being conducted in areas already accessible.

“Please note that this update pertains only to the status of the transmission network.