Island village near plant gets power after 10 yrs
By Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:01:00 06/28/2008
SUAL, Pangasinan, Philippines — More than 10 years after a 1,200-megawatt, coal-fired power plant began operating here, residents of an island about a kilometer away from the plant will finally enjoy electricity.
Ruben Licerio, manager of the Sual plant, said it took a long time to energize Cabalitian Island because an undersea cable had to be installed to connect the island to the town.
TeaM Energy, which operates the plant, bought the 1.2-kilometer undersea cable for P20 million.
In 2004, TeaM Energy gave a generator set for the island and its 320 families. The residents chipped in to buy fuel for the generator set, which ran for three hours a night. On special occasions, like Christmas and New Year’s, they would switch off light bulbs in their houses so celebrations at the village plaza would have enough power for lights and music.
With the installation of the undersea cable and power connection to the main grid, the islanders can now enjoy electricity 24 hours a day.
“Many families started buying appliances, like television sets and refrigerators,” said Jesusa Cera-Calaunan, public relations officer of the power plant.
The project was completed in March and has started benefiting Cabalitian residents.
Calaunan said the residents were grouped into four organizations that would take charge of collecting electricity payments. With editing by INQUIRER.net
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