Panay Island power almost back to normal

At least 75% of the power supply in Panay Island has been restored after the area suffered a massive blackout on Wednesday, GMA Regional TV One Western Visayas' Kim Salinas reported on "24 Oras" on Friday.

This developed after the Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC) connected to the Panay grid and supplied 135 megawatts (MW).

Around 350 MW of the needed 400 MW or 75% of the required electricity supply is now flowing to Panay Island.

"As of the moment si PCPC, they're the ones sending us the power. Newly produced to bring back to the grid at 80 MW. It's a process, ang pag-stabilize sa side nila in increments. Hindi pwede na direkta ipasok ang 135 MW in one swing," said NGCP Public Relations Department Lead Specialist Reagahn Alcantara said.

(As of the moment, the PCPC is sending us the power. Newly produced to bring back to the grid at 80 MW. Stabilizing the supply is a process and it needs to be incremental and not 135 MW in one swing.)

However, the Iloilo City government was dismayed over the lack of proposed solutions to the power problem.

"This happened 8 months ago, this can happen again next month, lahat tayo dito nagtitiis," said Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas.

(This happened 8 months ago so this can happen again.)

For its part, the NGCP said: ""Kailangan tingnan ang bawat sektor kasi mayroon mga solusyon na manggagaling sa NGCP, sa distribution utility at sa generator."

(We need to look at all sectors in solving this problem. Some solutions would come from the NGCP, distribution utility, and generator.)

The latest data from the NGCP showed there was 490.2 MW of electricity supply in Panay – higher than the 400 MW needed to stabilize the power supply on the island. — Sundy Locus/DVM, GMA Integrated News