Full restoration of electricity in NL may be till November

By Myrna Velasco

Restoration of electricity supply in Northern Luzon areas that were knocked down by typhoon Ompong last week has already been scaling up – reaching 1.2 million of households already energized as of Tuesday, according to the Department of Energy.

The DOE said full restoration in areas of worst-hit electric cooperatives, primarily in Cagayan, may still be stretched until Oct. 16 to Nov. 30 this year – considerably a long duration for consumers in these areas to still be suffering from.

It noted that 54-percent of the extremely battered areas that suffered blackouts already gained back power service as of Tuesday (September 18), based on the consolidated report issued by the DOE to the media.

“Of the 2,253,230 affected households, a total of 1,216,727 have been energized,” the National Electrification Administration (NEA) has noted; while indicating that 1,036,502 “are still undergoing power restoration.”

From the 54-percent electricity service level already brought back, Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi asserted that they are still “continuously mobilizing our people,” and had been cornering all forms of assistance from all concerned energy players as well as government agencies to fast-track required repairs at damaged power facilities.