The province and city of Iloilo experienced a 10-hour power outage from 11:24 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 20.

In a statement, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said it monitored “a system disturbance, which affected the entire Panay sub-grid.”

“NGCP is investigating the root cause of the incident and is currently expediting power restoration efforts for affected areas,” transmission service provider added.

In a radio interview, Reagan Alcantara, the lead specialist of the public relations department of the NGCP, said they were able to restore power transmission services at 2:24 p.m.

“Garing lang may mga power plants kita nga wala nakaconnect dayon. Ginahulat ta pa sila, especially ang mga dalagko, agud magbalik ang bastante nga supply [of power] within Panay [Island],” he explained.

NGCP is a privately owned corporation that operates the grid, which connects power plants to distribution utilities. The grid infrastructure is owned by government through Transco or National Transmission Corp.

The power outage also affected the provinces of Guimaras, Aklan, Antique, Negros Occidental, and Capiz.

Meanwhile, MORE Power, Iloilo City’s sole power distributor, announced that all its feeders were restored at around 9:26 p.m.

“We understand how inconvenient a power interruption can be, and we want to thank you for your patience and understanding during this time,” it said.

“We will keep you updated with a detailed advisory once NGCP has identified the root cause of this unscheduled power interruption,” MORE Power added.IMT

Photo by Ian Paul Cordero