Transco launches scheme vs blackouts

Cagayan de Oro City–The National Transmission Corp. (Transco) has launched here a P600-million wood pole replacement program as part of the company’s effort to minimize the incidence of power outages in Mindanao.

"The 10-year program will modernize the network and improve system efficiency and reliability," Transco president Alan T. Ortiz said.

The program entails the replacement of about 20,000 wood poles in the country with new-generation steel poles which can be buried directly to the ground.

Transco will replace the poles at a rate of 10 percent of the total requirement per year.

Ortiz said the modernization program is long overdue as the aging wood poles, especially in the low-load 69-kv line, have been vulnerable to typhoons. Toppled 69-kv lines during strong typhoons have been the cause of day-long outages in many areas in the country.

The Transco chief said the program was first conceived in 1998 to strengthen the transmission network and cushion the impact of the log ban in the procurement of poles.

"This replacement program is part of the over-all effort that we have started to implement last year and which has resulted in the prevention of a major or region-wide outage in a year and a half," he said.

The launching of the wood pole program is one of the highlights of the Cagayan de Oro leg of the five-city roadshow being undertaken in Mindanao by the energy family, the Energy Regulatory Commission and the Joint Congressional Power Commission.

The group has visited General Santos, Davao and Zamboanga. The culminating activity will be in Iligan City today and which will be attended by Energy Secretary Vince S.Perez, JCPC House Committee Chairman Rep. Cirilo Alipio Badelles, ERC Commissioner Jesus N. Alcordo and other officials of DOE-attached agencies.

"We have been given clear instructions by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to address the power-related concerns of Mindanao and reiterate the government’s commitment to meet these challenges. What we are trying to do is to reach out to the different stakeholders and update them on our plans and programs," Ortiz said.