There are few things in life other than an earthquake that can remind us not only of our mortality but the frailty of our systems that we take for granted, such as our water and power supply.
Last Thursday’s earthquake and the resulting aftershocks like the one that hit us last Monday resulted in damages to Leyte’s geothermal plants, including some transformers in Ormoc City.
That along with the damage sustained by the transmission line from the Luzon grid to the Visayas grid pretty much ensured that Cebuanos and their visitors will endure days of brownouts until the situation normalizes.
With Cebu sourcing a good chunk of its supply from the Leyte plants, the Visayan Electric Co. (Veco) already reminded its consumers that it will implement rotational brownouts at any given time of day or until the power supply gains some semblance of normalcy on July 17.
That’s the deadline given by the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) in repairing their plants, and we hope by that time they can function to near capacity in order to meet peak demand from Central Visayas particularly Leyte and Bohol provinces which had sustained the brunt of the power loss since the quake hit last week.
Until that time, residents will have to find creative ways to help ease the power load and ensure that brownouts won’t be as long nor as frequent as it may be given that Cebu’s power supply isn’t at peak condition.
The current power supply situation also reminds us to look for ways to provide for our own supply independent from power firms to avoid being inconvenienced whenever a situation, like the quake, and other calamities occur.
Under the law, Veco and other power utilities give incentives to households and companies that produce their own power to supply their needs. Solar panels come to mind since the country has been experiencing warmer days for the past few years, and it would be good to tap into sunlight to provide for our power needs.
The investment for solar panels is quite expensive, but if a community can raise funds to set up a solar panel system that can connect to a lot of households — and appoint guards to prevent illegal connections — maybe they won’t have to rely too much on power firms like Veco for their power needs.
Even lower-income households in Cebu use small-sized solar panels bought cheap from stores to charge their cell phones and power their electric fans.
Similar or even better ideas can be tapped not only to ensure available year-round supply of power but also to reduce reliance on plants that depend on bunker fuel and coal to produce energy at the cost of polluting our environment.
Emergency situations force people to be creative, and we need creative solutions to prepare ourselves to deal adequately with emergencies arising from situations that are simply out of control like, earthquakes and calamities.
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