by Franklin P. Gumapon
DIPOLOG CITY, Aug. 14
(PIA) - - Electricity has become an indispensable commodity nowadays as people
are getting dependent on electronic devices which are a mark of modern day
living.
As energy
consumption keeps soaring against limited power generation plants year in and
year out, power outages are inevitable. This is now the problem confronting the
electric consumers in Mindanao where rotating brownouts are being implemented
by electric cooperatives.
The Zamboanga del
Norte Electric Cooperative (ZANECO) was one of the electric cooperatives that
observed power rationing over the limited power supply from the National Power
Corporation (NPC) which operates hydro power plants in Lanao and Bukidnon
provinces.
In a recent
interview conducted by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) with ZANECO
Manager Adelmo A. Laput, the latter disclosed that a rotating brownout had been
enforced in the entire service area of ZANECO in 2010 and this prompted the
management to look for other suppliers to address the problem.
Manager Laput could
not afford to see the power problem persist without doing anything to resolve
it. He as well as his division chiefs and ZANECO board directors left no stone
unturned just to spare the electric consumers from impending brownouts. Thus,
starting January 2011 to the present the whole service area of ZANECO is
enjoying steady supply of electricity.
How did ZANECO do
it? Laput said the management contracted with Therma Marine Inc. (TMI), a power
plant based in Davao, for additional power to offset the shortage.
“Nagkinahanglan ta
sa January, 30 megawatts, February-28, March – 30 ug April – 30. Amo na
gitan-aw hangtud December,” Laput explained. (We need 30 megawatts for January,
28 for February, 30 for March and 30 for April. We are tracking it until
December.)
“Based on this, we
made our nomination with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines
(NGCP), which transmits power from source to electric cooperatives, with a maximum
of 11.8 megawatts and a minimum of 10 megawatts per hour,” Laput added.
Another thing that
helped ZANECO improve its services particularly in ensuring stable and adequate
power supply to the consumers was the enhancement training given to its personnel.
The management sent some of its staff to the University of the Philippines (UP)
to learn new techniques in forecasting to get appropriate solutions and
approaches to solving power problem. “For me, you should have the right person
to do the right forecast,” he said adding “you should invest money to develop
him/her so that he/she can help us operate effectively.”