The country’s sole power transmission service provider has assured reliable transmission of power to electric cooperatives and distribution utilities for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on May 14.

National Grid Corporation of the Philippines District Operations and Maintenance Senior Manager Engr. Allan Sandoval said plans are in place to ensure that there will be no power outages or interruptions during the election.

Sandoval presented their contingency plans before, during, and after the May 14 polls to the Regional Joint Security Control Center Coordinating Command last Wednesday.

Commission on Elections Regional Director Julius Torres called on the energy sector to assure adequate power during the conduct of the elections, especially that the elections will be done manual manually and counting of ballots is expected to extend through the night until the proclamation of winners.

Sandoval said they have conducted corrective maintenance on the different transmission lines and facilities to ensure continuous power supply to the different polling centers.

As per agreement with the Department of Energy, Sandoval said the NGCP will not be conducting any preventive maintenance to its facilities three days before and after the election day or from May 11 to 17.

He added that their technical group and equipment are in place in the different strategic areas to implement works in case of emergencies along their lines, facilities, and substations.

Linemen are also deployed in strategic areas with the quick response teams stationed near substations to ensure that any problems on their facilities will be dealt with immediately.

Sandoval said the NGCP opened on May 11 a command center at the different district offices in close coordination with their substations and electric cooperatives and distribution utilities.

He said the NGCP will ensure smooth flow of information so that government agencies, power customers, and the media are well-informed on the operational status of the transmission grid.

NGCP District Security Officer Ronaldo Robiato also reported that for the safety of the different vital installations and facilities, they beefed up their security group and have maintained close coordination on the deployment of augmentation force from the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the different areas on high risk NGCP facilities.

The NGCP called on the public to be vigilant for possible problems during the election period. Emergency and unplanned outages should be reported to the regional Comelec coordinating director/officer for dissemination to other stakeholders, especially the security providers including the police and military for their guidance and to the NGCP tip hotline at 0917-847-6427 and 0918-847-6427.