Davao del Sur residents told they’re lucky outages short

DIGOS CITY—Consider yourselves lucky.

Residents of Davao del Sur were told to grin and bear three-hour daily outages because the situation could be worse.

Godofredo Guya, general manager of the Davao del Sur Electric Cooperative (Dasureco), said the province’s residents suffer only up to three hours of brownouts daily compared to seven hours in other areas.

Guya said Dasureco was forced to impose the brownouts because it receives only an average of 12 megawatts of electricity daily.

Guya said the situation was worse in other areas, like South Cotabato where residents suffer up to seven hours of brownouts daily.

Consumers, he said, should stop blaming Dasureco because the problem lies with supply of electricity.

Guya said the power curtailment scheme was started by the National Grid Corp. of the Phils. (NGCP) more than two weeks ago because of Mindanao’s worsening power shortage.

The dry season, Guya said, also resulted in lower water levels at the Pulangui and Agus hydropower facilities in Bukidnon and Lanao. The two facilities supply about 70 percent of Mindanao’s power.

Guya said Dasureco could not guarantee that daily brownouts will last for only up to three hours daily.

Guya said plans to bring in power barges from the Visayas were being opposed by the National Power Corp. because of its costs.

The Department of Energy, he said, was pushing for the use of generators owned by big companies to boost power supply in Mindanao.

Guya said big companies were being enticed to help boost power supply on the island as part of their “corporate social responsibility.”

Factories or hospitals, he said, could be asked to use their generators during peak hours to reduce dependence on traditional sources of power.

He said the power situation in Mindanao could worsen next year unless more generation facilities are developed. Orlando Dinoy with a report from Aquiles Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao