The Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative, Inc. (INEC) said it will coordinate with the local government units for the conduct of major road clearing operations to address power interruptions in the province.

This, after power was again temporarily cut at around 7 a.m. on Wednesday (Nov. 1) and affected the whole town of Banna, except Barangay Barbarangay; Nueva Era; Marcos, except Barangays Imelda, Mabuti, Lydia, Pacifico and Valdez; as well as some villages in Pinili and Badoc.

Power supply was restored after an hour.

“The power interruption was caused by a leaning bamboo tree at (the) three phase-primary line at Sitio Saranay in Barangay Caribquib, Banna,” INEC said in a social media post on Wednesday.

Last Oct. 30, several election precincts in this city as well as parts of neighboring Sarrat town also experienced emergency power interruption during the counting of votes due to bird electrocution.

In a week’s time, electric consumers in almost all parts of the 21 towns and two cities of the province would complain of frequent power interruptions in their social media posts, affecting their daily chores as well as businesses.

INEC acting general manager Cipriano Martinez earlier told journalists that the power interruptions were due to the absence of road clearing operations.

“So, this time, we plan to have a one-time, big-time road clearing in all areas of the province,” he said.

Martinez said the road clearing operation, targeted to be done within a month, will be coordinated with the local government units to get augmentation both for heavy equipment and manpower if necessary.

He also appealed to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to speed up the upgrading works in Ilocos Norte to address recurring power interruptions, affecting both the first and second districts of the province.

Martinez also asked NGCP to limit power interruptions during the corrective maintenance works to not more than six hours, and to inform the electric cooperative at least a month before the implementation of maintenance works for the latter to have enough time to inform its member-consumers to make the necessary adjustments. (PNA)