BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The blackout that hit parts of Negros Occidental and the whole Panay island early Saturday morning, Oct. 15, may have been caused by a leakage in the distribution line.
Based on information released by the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), at around 12:57 a.m., there was a leakage in the distribution line insulator at its Reclamation Feeder No. 5 (RF5).
An auto-trip system should have been activated, however, it failed to activate in the feeder’s recloser, causing the fire. Why it failed remains unclear.
Saturday’s fire at RF5, which was located in the city’s Barangay 35, was seen and captured on video by several individuals at the Bacolod Baywalk area in the BREDCO port.
The fire then affected the other feeder lines of Ceneco, which ultimately caused a power outage in Bacolod City.
According to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Bacolod City, no one was hurt in the blaze, although the damage was pegged at around P30,000.
The RF5 fire also caused Panay Island’s transmission grid to trip, ultimately causing a blackout.
According to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), Ceneco, Northern Negros Electric Cooperative, Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative, and the Panay sub-grid were affected by the blackout, adding that the power loss was due to the isolation of NGCP’s Bacolod-Kabankalan and Bacolod-Cadiz 138kV lines.
Power was restored in some areas a few hours later./PN