Davao Light to build digital substation in Panabo

INVESTING IN TECHNOLOGY  Davao Light president and COO Rodger Velasco (fourth from right) and Panabo City Mayor Jose Relampagos (third from right) lead the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Panabo City Substation on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. They are joined by other Davao Light executives and Panabo City officials. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

By Leander C. Domingo, Manila Times

A NEW digital substation in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, will be built by the AboitizPower subsidiary Davao Light and Power Co. Inc. (Davao Light).

According to Janelle Jacinto, AboitizPower Corporate Branding and Communication unit head, Davao Light is setting up the substation in Panabo City, their fourth facility. The Panabo substation will have a capacity of 33 megavolt-amperes.

"Davao Light is set to build this new digital substation in Panabo City due to the growing population and economic activity in the area," she said.

Jacinto said this new facility is more than three times that of the existing substation in Cagangohan in Panabo City. It can also be remotely monitored and controlled, leading to faster and safer troubleshooting.

Davao Light president and chief operating officer Rodger Velasco said they are determined to supply reliable electricity and remain a partner in the progress of the communities they serve.

Marcos vetoes bill expanding Davao Light franchise area

By Catherine S. Valente

(UPDATES) PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has vetoed a measure seeking to expand the franchise area of the Davao Light and Power Company Inc., Malacañang said on Thursday.

Press Secretary Rose Beatrix "Trixie" Cruz-Angeles said the President vetoed the bill "due to, among others, its susceptibility to infringe on the franchise coverage area of the North Davao Electric Cooperative."

"While I recognize the prerogative of the Honorable Members of Congress and the laudable intent of the bill to further improve and develop access to electricity within the captive market of the expanded franchise area, I am constrained to veto the bill due to the susceptibility of the proposed expansion of the franchise area of Davao Light and Power Company Inc. to legal and/or constitutional challenge due to the apparent overlap and possible infringement into the subsisting franchise, permits and contracts previously granted to North Davao Electric Cooperative Inc.," Marcos said in his letter to Congress.

The President explained that North Davao Electric Cooperative Inc. has existing franchises in the expanded franchise area that will subsist until 2028 and until 2033.

"The bill runs counter to the provisions of Section 27 of Republic Act 9136, or the Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) mandating that 'all existing franchises shall be allowed to their full term,'" he said.

Marcos also said "the bill, while on its face amends the franchise of another entity over the expanded area, is a prohibited collateral attack on North Davao Electric Cooperative Inc. franchise."

"This is contrary to a jurisprudentially settled doctrine that a franchise cannot be subjected to a 'collateral attack.' In view of these considerations, I am constrained to veto the above-mentioned enrolled bill," he added.

Still, Marcos said he remains committed to the total electrification of the Philippines "with utmost respect for the concomitant rights of the public service entities engaged in supplying electric service, as well as the consumers thereof."

House Bill 10554 sought to amend Republic Act 11515, extending for another 25 years the franchise granted to Davao Light and Power Company Inc.

It would have placed Tagum City, Island Garden City of Samal and the municipalities of Asuncion, Kapalong, New Corella, San Isidro and Talaingod under the franchise area of Davao Light and Power Company Inc.

These areas are currently serviced by the North Davao Electric Cooperative Inc.

Daao Light and Power Company Inc. currently services Davao City, Panabo City and the municipalities of Carmen, Dujali and Sto. Tomas in Davao del Norte.

Sanity lost

THU, APRIL 14, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR 

(Re-published with friendly permission from the publisher)

EDITORIAL

Dabawenyos are not particularly in the right mood at this time so be careful when dealing with them. Some are walking around like zombies after spending hours without sleep, waiting for precious power to come back so they can finally go to sleep, if that makes sense at all. Others are in the mood to rant, and most of it directed towards the people in the power industry. The social media, especially Facebook, is filled with rants and memes making a mockery of the city’s power providers. Some even mocked the city’s “life is here” slogan with memes saying “but light is not here.” Except for lack of water, nothing can rile people the most than long hours of power interruption.

Business is seriously affected with losses estimated at millions a day. The Davao Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. has not yet made an assessment as to how much its members are losing since the rotating brownouts started several days ago. Big businesses are bound to lose big time. But then again, small businesses suffer more even if they have smaller losses because they have little capital to start with and most are operating on the red. With these long brownouts, some of these businesses can close down even before Therma South Inc. gets its act together, or even before the heavens shower us with lots of rain.

The Davao Light and Power Company asked Dabawenyos to be more patient as they only have to bear with the five-hour rotating power interruptions until April 21 when TSI 1 gets repaired. However, there is still no reason to do the rain dance and rejoice because even if the coal-fired power plant is back full operation, there will still be brownouts albeit shortened to three hours. Now people are starting to question Davao City’s claim as the best place to invest in and do business. After all, El Niño is nothing new so those in the power industry should have known how to address its effects on power generation a long time ago. While people are worried about the billions of losses in the economy, perhaps we should be more worried about people losing their sanity.

Brownouts Blamed For Crime Rise in Davao City

The long rotational brownouts are being blamed for a rise in crime in Davao City – by as much as 20 percent – with police noting the rising trend since the outages started, a Mindanao news site reported late Thursday.

Davao City police head Senior Superintendent Vicente Danao Jr. said the 20-percent rise negated a 35-percent drop in crime from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014.

“Stay home. If you really don’t have somewhere to go during the brownouts, don’t leave your homes because that’s when the criminals are taking advantage of the cover of darkness,” he advised residents, according to a report on MindaNews.

He also asked the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) to immediately address the power situation.

The DLPC had said Wednesday its power allocation was reduced by 18 megawatts, dropping power supply from 120MW last week to 102MW starting Wednesday.

Because of this, DLPC was forced to extend daily brownouts from six hours to seven-and-a-half hours.

Citing police data, Danao said most of the incidents committed since the brownouts started were crimes against persons and against property.

Police were also affected by the brownouts as "(w)e can’t see in the dark,” he added.

Even closed-circuit television cameras would be of little use as they may not be able to capture images in in the dark.

Anti-terror efforts

MindaNews also said Task Force Davao, a batallion tasked to combat terrorism in the city, is helping maintain peace and order.

Task Force Davao head Casiano Monilla said TFD has deployed seven four-member, two-motorcycle teams to help monitor the area, especially during brownouts.

Business

Meanwhile, a separate report on Davao Today said the brownouts have worsened effects on local businesses.

The report said traders had to buy more ice to preserve meat in abattoirs and pay workers of full salary for undertime work.

“Aside from the power failure, increased cost of labor and low productivity, the power cost is very high because the distributors have to buy from suppliers who are running their diesel-fired power generators,” local business leader Bonifacio Tan told Davao Today on Thursday.

Local traders have been mulling retrenchment of workers and cutting down on production to cope with lost working hours.

For its part, the City Council committee on energy (COE) has promoted alternative energy sources such as portable solar panels. — By: Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News

POWER SHORTAGES IN MINDANAO

This is a re-published editorial from MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR from April 6, 2013 with friendly permission of Publisher Ms. Marietta Siongco:

REASSURING

It's very reassuring to hear that Davao Light and Power Corp. is more than ready for power shortages particularly in Davao City. While other cities and provinces in Mindanao are suffering from 8 to 16 hours power blackouts due to depletion of hydropower sources in Mindanao, Davao City and parts of Davao del Norte will likely continue to enjoy blackout-free days and nights.

We cannot imagine how horrible and terrible it is to live even one day of 16 hours at the most sans electricity. Just think of the devastating consequences to the economy an the sizzling summer heat so unbearable it zaps one's energy and leaves one wilting.

How will Davao Light do it? According to the DLPC spokesman Ross Luga at a presscon, the company has set up contingency plans to cushion the impact of power shortages. Also the DLPC will try its best not to resort to rotating brownouts. 

...

Well and good for the ever efficient Davao Light and its highly competent people. Let's hope, however, al measures will not translate into sky-high cost of electricity or if ever only at minimal cost. With the spiralling prices of everything, another added enormous burden to the public would be unconscionable if not downright cruel.

How is the Weather in The Philippines?

Davao Light and Power Co. has now made weather updates and forecasts available to its customers and all readers of this website through its own website www.davao-light.com .

This has been made possible through the site's link to the Weather Philippines Foundation (WPF) website.

WPF provides localized and regularly updated weather forecasts in major cities in the Philippines, of course, including my new home town Davao City. Weather Data is transmitted every 10 minutes automatically.

Thanks a lot to Davao Light and Power Information Officer and friend, Mr. Rossano Luga.

The Summer is Back - and Blackouts in The Philippines!

One of my previous columns in Mindanao Daily Mirror was entitled "Summer is back". Yes, summer is back in the Philippines - and the daily blackouts - or "brownouts"... .

After being able to avoid the rotating power outages for the past two months, Davao Light and Power company may now be forced to implement rotating brownouts within its franchise as the national Grid Cooperation of the Philippines has announced an increase in the Mindanao-wide power curtailment at a level of 320 MW.

While other areas in Mindanao have reportedly been experiencing long durations of brownouts, Davao Light customers may only experience 30-minutes rotating outages due to reserve power supply that it has contracted from Independent Power producers as part of its contingency plans to address power shortages.

Allow me to quote Florencio A. Ranido, Mindanao Daily Mirror Editorial Consultant: 

"Dabawenyos from all walks of life should be thankful for the far sightedness of Davao Light and Power company in particular and the Aboitiz Power Corp., its mother firm, in general. For quite a while, some areas in Mindanao, especially General Santos City, Sarangani provinces and the adjacent municipalities of Polomok and Tupi in South Cotabato have been experiencing one and a half hours of rotation brownouts daily."

Very well said, Sir. And, it's true, I just experienced during my stays in this area last week... .