Bacolod City – Ninety percent of unexpected power interruptions in central Negros are blamed on tree branches touching power lines.
In a statement issued by Negros Power, it said that based on their inspections and survey of its power lines, the power firm’s line teams has started to clear almost 2,000 instances of such vegetation.
Tree branches touching power lines may result in the disconnection of feeder breakers as protection for the entire distribution system, Negros Power said.
When this happens, line teams manually search for the location where the branch is touching the power line, which can take hours due to the length of the feeder lines, it added.
These branches are immediately trimmed before reconnecting the feeder breaker to ensure that contact with the line does not happen again, but that is only a temporary solution, Negros Power further said.
The transition from Central Negros Electric Cooperative to Negros Power started August 1, in preparation for the upcoming takeover next month.
As soon the formal takeover ensued, Negros Power said they plan to install automatic circuit reclosers on all 43 feeder lines, replace them with new insulated cables, install load brake switches, and sectionalize cut-outs to provide a permanent solution to vegetation issues, to avoid prolonged and frequent brownouts.
The distribution utility is seeking the understanding and cooperation from its consumers, as they need more time to accomplish all these tasks. (Gilbert Bayoran via TVS)