MABALACAT CITY — Apart from the varying impact to the public of the now prolonged enhanced community quarantine, quick and unscheduled power interruptions have added to the distress and frustration of every household under Pampanga II Electric Cooperative, Inc (Pelco 2) since April 21.
Barangays here most especially suffer from consistent ad hoc power flickers and outages between 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. that could cause damage to home appliances as most of the power flickers last between one to five minutes.
Mabalaqueños vent their anger and frustrations online looking for answers and explanation from the electric cooperative.
A frustrated netizen said, “Shoutout sa Pelco 2… dalawa po ref namin… pakisira naman yung isa… dalawa din TV pakisira na din yung isa… pakidamay na po yung aircon pakisira na din… ang aga naman ng pamasko niyo… gewa do christmas lights deng ****!”
Some ask for explanation as to why they consume more electricity during outages and thus pay higher bills: “Masisira ang appliances sa ginagawa nilang ganito. Meron bang pwedeng magpaliwanag sa ganitong gawain? Malakas magkonsumo ng kuryente ang bawat patay-sindi ng mga ilaw o gamit sa bahay.”
While others are looking for the city government’s intervention as the only possible solution: “Nung ali ta la akwa solusyun reng Pelco, ali la wari pweding makyelam ing Mayor tamu? Midagdagan ta mu pewisyu king maliliyaring ayni.”
A statement released by Pelco 2 in its official Facebook page on Friday said possible unexpected power outages during ECQ is “caused by busted distribution of transformers, blown out cutout fuse, sudden shut off of electricity lines, or vehicular accidents.”
Here is the full statement:
“Sa panahon tag-init kasabay ng ECQ kung saan tumaas lalo ang demand ng elektrisidad ay nagkakaroon ng kapagsubukan ang mga Distribution Utilities kagaya ng Pelco 2 sa mga di inaasahang power outages.
Batid ng ating kooperatiba ang matinding pangangailangan sa maaasahan at tuluy-tuloy na supply ng kuryente higit lalo sa mga Member-Consumer-Owners (MCOs) na naka work from home (WFH). Subalit, dahil sa mga hindi inaasahan na pangyayari ay bigla na lang nawawala ang supply sa ilang bahagi ng mga coverage area ng Pelco 2.
Ang bawat pagkawala ng supply sa inyo pong lugar ay hindi nangangahulugan na KUSA ITONG PINAPATAY NI PELCO 2 maaaring ito ay sanhi ng mga sumusunod:
1. Pagkasira ng Distribution Transformer (pinapalitan ito ng Pelco 2 maliban sa sakop ng FIESTA COMMUNITIES dahil hindi pa ineendorso ng developer ang kanyang pasilidad)
2. Blown out Cutout Fuse
3. Biglang Pagka putol ng linya ng kuryente
4. Vehicular Accident
Hinihingi po namin ang inyong pang unawa, at makakaasa po kayo na sisikapin ng ating kooperatiba na gumawa ng mga posibleng solusyon sa mga nabanggit.
Salamat po.”
As of this writing, no response or statement has been received from the city government regarding this matter.
