- CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Central Negros Electric Cooperative said Sunday it will still determine why the automatic tripping function of the recloser at its Reclamation Feeder 5 in Brgy. 35, Bacolod City, failed to activate, following a current leakage in the distribution line insulator at 12:57 a.m. Oct. 15.
Malou Parroco, public relations officer of Ceneco, said they will also assess the damage today, Oct. 17, and is still waiting for a summary report from the technical personnel on when power was fully restored in its franchise area covering Bacolod, Silay, Talisay, Bago, Murcia, and Don Salvador Benedicto.
In its post at 4:52 p.m. Oct. 15, Ceneco said that because of the failure of the auto-recloser to activate, the leakage continued and caused a fire that destroyed the recloser and electric cables.
A recloser is an automatic, high-voltage electric switch that shuts off power when trouble, such as a short circuit, occurs. Located on top of a distribution pole, it is typically used on very long distribution feeders, and isolates a section of the feeder in fault or overloaded condition, thereby minimizing the number of customers without service.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, meanwhile, reported an “unscheduled power interruptions in Panay and Negros at 12:57 a.m. Oct. 15, following a “power loss at Panay and Negros sub-grids due to the isolation of NGCP’s Bacolod-Kabankalan and Bacolod-Cadiz 138kV lines”.
It affected Ceneco, the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative, Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative, and the Panay sub-grid, the NGCP advisory said, adding that power transmission services resumed in Negros at Panay at 6:37 a.m., also on Saturday.
Several areas serviced by Ceneco, however, experienced close to 10 hours of power interruption, which in turn, affected the services of the Bacolod Water District-PrimeWater./CGC
