By Rey Anthony Chiu | 12:09 AM January 23, 2022
Thirty-six days into restoration works following the devastation wreaked by typhoon Odette, Bohol Electric Cooperative I (BOHECO I), along with the help of augmentation linemen from the country’s unaffected electric cooperatives has restored 25% of its power poles toppled, bent, broken or uprooted by the storm’s winds.
The restoration however does not mean that those households with active connections near those fixed posts are already reenergized.
According to BOHECO 1 which distributes power to 26 towns in Bohol, they counted 4,991 damaged poles, some of them of poured concrete, metal and a few wooden posts.
Of this, the distribution utility, along with mercy missionary linemen from nearby provinces and allied cooperatives, have restored 1,245 poles, as of January 21.
In fact, BOHECO reports that it has completed rehabilitating 539 backbone lines: the high tension power lines that bring the power supply to its substations for safe distribution to houses.
This means power, when it is available, can now get into their substations, ready for . distribution. The next hurdle would be to restore the 4,452 damaged lateral lines that radiate from the substations to the barangays and cluster of houses they are serving.
To this task, 706 of the 4,452 have been re-erected and the lines restored, their accomplishment still at 16%.
According to BOHECO 1, despite this laborious task of restoring thousands of damaged posts, they are slowly readying barangays for re-energization.
Recent reports bare that in the 26 towns served by the power cooperative, 193 barangays in their catchment area are ready to receive power, as soon as the supply to Bohol from Leyte normalizes.
The next goal would be to bring up more of the damaged lateral lines for the remaining 410 barangays in their service area.
As of Jan 21, BOHECO has brought back power to 6674 of their consumers’ connections, one which is just 3.6% of their total active connections before the storm.
The power distribution utility has also said some 29,000 house connections may not yet be re-tapped to their lateral lines as these houses have been totally destroyed and need to be rebuilt for the reconnection.
BOHECO also said power is partially back in 15 of the 26 towns in their franchise area.
They have restored power to 31.57% of their active connections in Lila, 17.62% in Loay and some 15.16% in Sevilla.
Power is also partially back in 13.06% of Baclayon consumers, 10.96% of power users in Dauis and 9.22% of their consumers in Loboc.
5.53% of the distribution utility’s members in Dimiao are now with power, Panglao has 4.70% of its connections restored and Alburquerque is 4.00% reenergized.
Power is also back partially in Cortes, where 2.20% of households are now beaming light while 1.32% of the houses with connection in Loon are now with power.
Less than 1% of the house connections in Tubigon, Corella, Clarin, Maribojoc and Calape are now with power.
To date, power in 10 more towns have not been back, 37 days after the storm lashed in Bohol.
There is still no power in Antequera, Balilihan, Batuan, Bilar, Carmen, Catigbian, Inabanga, Sagbayan, San Isidro and Sikatuna, as of January 21, according to BOHECO 1. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)