Iloilo townsfolk suffer little sleep due to 7-hour brownout

ILOILO CITY –– About 100,000 residents of several Iloilo towns had little sleep due to a power interruption that lasted around seven hours starting just before midnight on Wednesday.

The National Grid Corp of the Philippines (NGCP) and the Iloilo Electric Cooperative (Ileco) I said the power interruption that started around 11:34 p.m. Wednesday until 6:16 a.m. Thursday was due to a trip affecting the Sta. Barbara-Tigbauan 69-kiloVolt transmission line.

A trip occurs when there is an electric circuit overload, short circuit or a ground fault.

Engineer Mike Paguntalan, Ileco I general manager, said a bamboo pole that was struck by lightning hit the transmission line in Cabatuan town triggering the trip.

The location of the fault could not be immediately pinpointed prompting NGCP personnel to conduct a pole-to-pole inspection the whole night, said Michele Visera, NGCP regional corporate communications and public affairs officer.

Ileco I serves the towns of Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal, Miag-ao, San Joaquin, San Miguel, Alimodian, Igbaras, Tubungan, Leon, Sta. Barbara, Pavia, Cabatuan, Maasin and Leganes.

Paguntalan said the power interruption affected towns in varying degrees from partial to total. These include the towns of Cabatuan, Maasin, Tubungan, Sta. Barbara, Leganes, San Miguel, Pavia, Leon, Alimodian, Guimbal, Tigbauan, and Oton.

Consumers voiced their ire about the long power interruption over social media. Many complained of having little sleep because of brownout amid humid weather.

They also decried the delay in addressing the problem. (Editor: Leti Z. Boniol)