As is normally the course during the strike of extreme nature-related calamities, large swathe of consumers in Luzon were left without electricity following the devastation of typhoon Santi on Saturday.

In a statement to the media, utility firm Manila Electric Company (Meralco) noted that 1.6 million customers or about 35-percent of its 4.6 million customer base lost their power supply due to affected electrical systems.

Meralco external communication manager Joe Zaldarriaga traced the outages from range of falling trees, the poles and wires that were downed as well as the damaged electrical equipment and other debris that hit their facilities.

As of press time, the company advised that it has been working round-the-clock to bring back power supply in affected areas.

“We have to clear the lines of debris and other unsafe obstructions before putting back power to ensure public safety,” Zaldarriaga noted.

For its part, system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) noted that power restoration efforts will be focused on Southern Luzon due to the number of transmission lines that were affected. Effectively, the eye of typhoon Santi was directed in south Luzon areas.

”Due to the tripping of NGCP's transmission lines as well as sub-transmission lines operated by distribution utilities, the current load of the Luzon grid is only around 50% of a typical Saturday load,” the company noted.

It emphasized though that about 7,170 megawatts of capacity has been available in the grid, supposedly more than enough to accommodate peak demand of just 2,480 MW on that typhoon-distraught day.

The transmission firm reported that among the transmission lines that tripped were: Labo-Naga 230-kiloVolts (kV) line 1, Gumaca-Labo 230-kV line 1, Kalayaan-Gumaca 230-kV lines 1 and 2, San Jose-Tayabas 500-kV line 2, Kalayaan-Calauan 230-kV line, Kalayaan-Makban 230-kV line, Kalayaan-Malaya 230-kV line 1, Sucat-Araneta 230-kV line, and Sucat 115-kV tie line.

”Two transformer units at the old Sucat substation have been shut down when a portion of the substation was flooded,” the company added. This affected Meralco’s franchise area, consequently increasing the number of customers rendered without power supply.

Additionally, the company apprised that at least four transmission lines rated at 115 kV have tripped in Laguna due to the brunt of the typhoon, namely the Dasmariñas-Abubot-Rosario; Dasmariñas-Pala-Pala/Tagaytay; Dasmariñas-Ternate 115-kV lines in Cavite and Caliraya-Botocan 115-kV lines.

NGCP identified the affected areas, to include the municipalities of Dasmariñas, Rosario, Bacoor, Gen. Trias, Imus, Tanza, Tagaytay City, Silang, Alfonzo, Madeo, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, Indang, Magallanes, Mendez, Trece Martirez City, and the municipalities of Gen. Mariano, Alvarez, Carmona, Maragondon, Naic and Ternate, as well as Botocan in Laguna.