MABALACAT CITY – Barely a week after the New Year, the Pampanga Electric Cooperative (Pelco) II has announced a whole day power interruption in this city on Tuesday, January 9.
Pelco II also stated that aside from this city, its service areas in Barangay Santa Lucia in nearby Magalang town will be affected by the nine-and-a-half -hour power outage which will start from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.
The scheduled power outage will be done “to give way for the installation and energization of power circuit breaker at the Mabiga substation,” Pelco II said in its advisory.
There is also a scheduled pole erection along the MacArthur Highway from Barangay Mabiga to San Francisco, it added.
Other reasons include the trimming of trees, clearing of lines and area maintenance works. On December 27, 2017, a dawn to noon power outage irked residents of this city coming in the first day of work in the last week of the year.
The power outage took residents by surprised since no announcement was made.
Senior citizens as well as vacationing balikbayans just took to the malls to let the day pass.
But most residents decried Pelco II for being insensitive to their concessionaires.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) clarified on that day that the situation was “normal NGCP lines.”
Ernest Vidal, NGCP corporate communications officer for north and central Luzon, said the power outage was caused by Pelco II.
Vidal said the NGCP maintenance activity in parts of Pampanga on December 14 was announce on December 12 and lasted from 7 am to 6 pm.
Vidal said there was “corrective works inside the Mexico Substation and along the Mexico-Calumpit 69 kilo-volt line.”
