The National Electrification Administration (NEA) reported on Monday that the initial estimated cost of damage to electric cooperative (EC) facilities attributed to the four major storms that hit the Philippines this month reached a combined total of P40,675,916.70.
The latest figure covers the trails of destruction left on the rural electrification sector by Typhoons ‘Marce’ (Yinxing), ‘Nika’ (Toraji), ‘Ofel’ (Usagi), and ‘Pepito’ (Man-Yi), which slammed into almost the same regions and provinces over the past few weeks since November 4.
Data released by the NEA Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department (DRRMD) as of 18 November 2024 placed at least 27 ECs operating in 21 provinces from seven regions under close and continuous monitoring in the wake of the consecutive tropical cyclones.
According to the NEA-DRRMD, four ECs namely AURELCO in Aurora, FICELCO in Catanduanes, NUVELCO in Nueva Vizcaya, and QUIRELCO in Quirino had to temporarily shutdown their operations due to the effects of ‘Pepito,’ which developed into super typhoon over the weekend.
NUVELCO with 118,000 consumers affected and QUIRELCO serving 54,266 customers—both in the Cagayan Valley region—already started power restoration efforts shifting its status update to partial interruptions.
FICELCO initiated manual shutdown of its facilities on Saturday for safety after ‘Pepito’ made its first landfall in Catanduanes, which affected a total of 60,657 consumers. Power restoration is also ongoing in the province. AURELCO with 63, 101 consumers, meanwhile, remain without electricity.
The NEA-DRRMD noted in its latest situational report that power restoration efforts continue in 22 ECs under partial power interruption status through the Task Force Kapatid (TFK). Several TFK teams have been organized and deployed in critical areas to accelerate line clearing and rehabilitation operations.
Thus far, 314 out of 376 municipalities (83.51 percent) covered by the affected ECs are either fully or partially energized. Damage assessments continue as the NEA-DRRMD receives updates and additional reports from EC technical teams on the ground. ###
