Damage to electric coops’ infra due to November storms hit P40.67M

The initial cost of damage to power distribution infrastructure of electric cooperatives due to the four consecutive storms that hit the country so far this month has reached over P40 million, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said Tuesday.

In a statement, the NEA said the damage incurred by electric cooperatives due to the major tropical storms in November amounted to a total of P40,675,916.70. 

The agency said the cost of damage to electric cooperatives covers the trails of destruction left on the rural electrification sector by Marce (Yinxing), Nika (Toraji), Ofel (Usagi), and Pepito (Man-Yi), which hit into almost the same regions and provinces over the past few weeks since November 4. 

Citing data released by its Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department (DRRMD) as of November 18, 2024, NEA said at least 27 electric cooperatives operating in 21 provinces from seven regions were under close and continuous monitoring in the wake of the consecutive tropical cyclones. 

According to the NEA-DRRMD, four ECs namely AURELCO in Aurora, FICELCO in Catanduanes, NUVELCO in Nueva Vizcaya, and QUIRELCO in Quirino had to temporarily shutdown their operations due to the effects of Pepito, which developed into super typhoon over the weekend. 

It added that NUVELCO with 118,000 consumers affected and QUIRELCO serving 54,266 customers—both in the Cagayan Valley region—already started power restoration efforts shifting its status update to partial interruptions.

FICELCO initiated manual shutdown of its facilities on Saturday for safety after Pepito made its first landfall in Catanduanes, which affected a total of 60,657 consumers. 

Power restoration is also ongoing in the province. 

AURELCO with 63,101 consumers, meanwhile, remain without electricity, according to NEA.

NEA said that in the latest situational report of its DRRMD showed that power restoration efforts continue in 22 electric cooperatives under partial power interruption status through the Task Force Kapatid (TFK). 

“Several TFK teams have been organized and deployed in critical areas to accelerate line clearing and rehabilitation operations,” it said.

“Thus far, 314 out of 376 municipalities (83.51%) covered by the affected electric cooperatives are either fully or partially energized,” it added.

NEA said that damage assessments continue as its DRRMD receives updates and additional reports from electric cooperatives’ technical teams on the ground.

—VAL, GMA Integrated News