Power back in almost all Ilocos Norte towns

MEN AT WORK -- Linemen of Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative fix  broken power post. INEC says full-force power restoration continues with all households reenergized last week. (Photo courtesy of INEC)

Restored after Typhoon ‘Egay’ 

By Leilanie Adriano 

LAOAG CITY – Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC) has restored power in all 559 villages in the province, except in some households with meter reading problems brought about by Super Typhoon Egay.
    Lawyer Enrico Ruiz, head of the institutional services department of INEC, confirmed this in a media interview on Wednesday, as members of the Ilocos Norte board called on the electric utility provider for an update on the continuing power restoration.
    "As of the moment, about 99.97 percent of households in the province have been re-energized,” said Ruiz, as he expressed hopes to restore electricity in 31 remaining households this week.

These households are in Laoag City and Pasuquin, Bacarra, Dingras, San Nicolas and Vintar towns.

As this developed, provincial board member Saul Lazo thanked the linemen of INEC and those who helped in the power restoration of the province from various parts of Northern Luzon.

From its AAA rating, the highest score given by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to electric cooperatives indicating full compliance on four parameters, namely financial, institutional, technical, and reportorial requirements, INEC has been downgraded to AA rating due to its current financial status.

As part of cost-cutting measures, INEC laid off many linemen and the management has not trained new ones yet.

This prompted the Ilocos Norte government to call for more specialized linemen in various parts of Northern Luzon to help in the power restoration of the province.

Meanwhile, the Ayala-led wind farm in Pagudpud town is calling on new professional engineers to apply for a six-month cadetship program.

The cadetship program allows at least 15 cadet engineers to learn through technical and leadership learning programs and mentorship from leaders of the renewable energy firm, providing on-site operations experience for fresh graduates and licensed civil, electrical and mechanical engineers.

Organized by the company’s Plant Operations Human Resources team, the program aims to provide an opportunity for engineering graduates who have recently passed their board exams to hone their technical skills, build their competencies, and expose themselves to the various facets of the energy industry.

Interested applicants may contact Raymond Sesuca or leave a message at annika.matibag@acenrenewables.com. – PNA