“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your ow sunshine.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo
In preparation for the rainy season, MORE Power is all-system go in initiating the final phase of its extensive cleaning operation on its 69kV lines.
Phases 1 ad 2 were conducted on March 27, 2024 and April 21, 2024, respectively. Engr. BERNARD BAILEY DEL CASTILLO, who is the Vice President of the Network Development and Operations Group, emphasized these phases marked the initial stages of their efforts.
Del Castillo highlighted that the scheduled power interruption yesterday, May 26, 2024, was in preparation for the anticipated onset of the rainy season as forecasted by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). “The primary objective of initiating the final phase of our cleaning operation is to adequately prepare for the imminent rainy season. The accumulation of dirt on our power lines poses significant challenges, as it can lead to sparks and outages when it rains. Heavy rainfall is required to effectively wash away the accumulated dirt,” he pointed out.
With Phases 1 and 2 of the project only covering a portion of 69kV lines 2 and 5, the lines at the Baldoza junction in La Paz were not addressed yet due to safety concerns, as both 69kV lines must be shut off to ensure the safety of personnel working in proximity to live lines overhead.
According to Del Castillo, “We cannot simultaneously interrupt all 69kV lines due to the expansive working area; hence, we are conducting the process in multiple phases. In addition to facility washing, during the first two phases, we also replaced hundreds of post insulators.”
Although yesterday’s shutdown of the two 69kV lines initially meant over 80% of the franchise area was affected by the 11-hour scheduled power interruption, since the lines are interconnected, MORE Power facilitated load transfer, reducing the impact to only 53% of its consumers.
Rightfully so, to alleviate the inconvenience caused by the power interruption, MORE Power continued its initiatives of providing free cold water and mobile charging to affected areas.