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Power Is Cut to Philippine Province Over Unpaid Bills Power Is Cut to Philippine Province Over Unpaid Bills
(about 4 hours later)
MANILA — A Philippine province of 1.2 million people was without electricity for more than 24 hours after the local power cooperative was unable to pay its bill to the corporation that runs the national grid, officials said. MANILA — A Philippine province of 1.2 million people was without electricity for more than a day after the local power cooperative was unable to pay its electricity bill to the corporation that runs the national grid, officials said.
Electricity was cut to Albay Province, south of Manila, at noon on Tuesday after the local government was unable to pay about $70 million in unpaid bills, according to the Philippine Department of Energy. All residential, government and corporate accounts in the province were included in the disconnection. Power was cut to Albay Province, south of Manila, at noon Tuesday because officials could not pay more than 4 billion pesos, or about $92 million, in unpaid bills, according to the Philippine Department of Energy. All residential, government and corporate accounts in the province were included in the disconnection.
Power was restored on Wednesday at 5 p.m. after Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla called for an emergency meeting of national and provincial power officials and companies to resolve the issue. Power was restored Wednesday at 5 p.m. after Carlos Jericho L. Petilla, the energy secretary, called an emergency meeting of national and provincial power officials.
The power cutoff forced hospitals to run on emergency generators and led many shops to close for the day. The restoration came after the local power cooperative agreed to pay the overdue amount for June 2013 of about 19 million pesos, or about $440,000, within five days of reconnection. Local officials also agreed that the 100 customers with the highest unpaid balances, mostly businesses, would remain disconnected.
“The city is very dark,” said Veronica Moran, who works at a hotel in the provincial capital of Legazpi City. “This is disrupting business for everyone.” Mr. Petilla said Wednesday afternoon that power to the province could be cut off again if the local cooperative did not pay its bill for July by the Aug. 25 due date.
It was the second time in a month that a local government had faced the loss of power because of unpaid bills. In early July, the city of Olongapo, north of Manila, narrowly averted losing power because of unpaid electricity bills. He said a long-term solution was being sought, but that the debt had accumulated over more than two decades and involved complex issues related to the privatization of the national power grid.
The Philippines has struggled for decades with issues of power generation and distribution. In the 1980s, a lack of power-generating capacity caused long blackouts around the country on a regular basis.
The government has worked to make the power system more efficient through a variety of privatization measures, but some local power companies have been mismanaged or troubled by corruption. Power supply remains unreliable in many parts of the country.
The power cut on Tuesday in Albay Province affected an estimated 160,000 households, forced hospitals to run on emergency generators and led many shops to close for the day.
“The city is very dark,” Veronica Moran, a worker at the Tyche Boutique Hotel in Legazpi, the provincial capital, said Tuesday. “This is disrupting business for everyone.”
Ms. Moran said that during the power disruption her hotel had had limited use of credit card machines and computers and had been able to use backup generators only part of the time.
“Our guests have been very understanding,” she said. “They know this isn’t our fault. This is the whole province.”
Daisy Armadio, who works at a diabetes clinic in Legazpi, said they had been able to maintain their equipment and refrigeration using generators during the power disruption.
“We pay our bill on time, but we are still disconnected,” she said. “This is a big problem, but we can manage.”
Local officials have proposed drawing on a provincial disaster relief fund to help pay the debt, but national officials said it was unclear if this was legal.
Edcel Lagman, who represents the province in the Philippine House of Representatives, likened the power disruption to a disaster.
“We are used to devastations brought about by typhoons and volcanic eruptions, but this will be the first time a man-made disaster such as this hit our province,” he said.
It was the second time in a month that a local government has faced the loss of its power because of unpaid bills. In early July, the city of Olongapo, north of Manila, narrowly averted being disconnected over unpaid debt.