The power problems in Bohol are not confined only to the lack of supply, as the province’s electric consumers should brace themselves and expect higher bills since the province is drawing electricity from Power Barge 104 and the
Bohol Diesel Power Plant (BDPP), which are more expensive compared to the geothermal plants in Leyte. This certainty of paying more for electricity usage surfaced during the regular press conference at the Capitol on Jan. 7, 2022.
Cheryl Paga, the spokesperson of Bohol Light Company Inc. (BLCI) told media reporters that the province has to expect higher electricity bills, considering the fact that power supply now comes from the power barge stationed at Ubay and the BDPP based in barangay Dampas.
“Expected nato karon kay diesel man sya, so expected higher sya nga rate kun e-compare nato sa atong normal source,” Paga said.
However, she is unable to exactly tell how much the increase in the power bill will be. Based on the Nov. 2021 billing, the residential consumers of BLCI pay P9.95 per kilowatt hour.
The possibility of higher power bills was seconded by Engr. Alger Siga, corporate planning manager of Bohol 1 Electric Cooperative (Boheco 1), who was also present at the press conference.
Siga said that an increase of P3 to P4 is in the offing as Bohol is using the more expensive bunker and diesel-fueled power sources.
“Mahal mahal ang cost sa fuel sa diesel nga planta nga nagdagan nato karon. So in rough estimate, naa sa mga P3 to P4 [per kilowatt hour] ang increase sa atong rate,” Siga added.
Prior to the typhoon, Bohol is getting its electricity from geothermal plants in Leyte. Due to the transmission problem encountered following rage of typhoon Odette, Bohol is forced to get power from the power barge and the BDPP, which is more expensive because they use bunker fuel and diesel fuel, respectively.
Siga added that the cost of bunker fuel and diesel fuel is the same and the cost for both is costlier compared to geothermal plants which are based in Leyte province.
According to Engr. Jun Pepito of the SPC Island Power Corporation who spoke during the press conference, the power barge and the BDPP will provide
a total power supply of 37 megawatts that will be allocated to the 3 distribution utilities (DU) in Bohol. He said that 12 megawatts will be given each to Bohol Electric Cooperatives 1 and 2 and the remainder is allocated to BLCI. SPC Island Power Corporation owns the BDPP.
It can be remembered that in 2017 when an earthquake hit Leyte and affected Bohol’s electricity for several days, the electricity was sourced from Power Barge 104 and the BDPP.
Meanwhile, Engr. Raul Galano, the Assistant Vice President for Visayas Operations of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) explained that the power supply from the power barge and the BDPP is not enough to meet the demand of Bohol which is pegged at 90 megawatts.
This means that there will be power rationing among the 3 DUs until power will be drawn from Leyte by the 2nd quarter of 2022.
Currently, Bohol is unable to get electricity from Leyte as the 2 special towers of the NGCP were toppled when typhoon Odette visited the northern part of Bohol.
The special towers act as a link between the power source in Leyte and the distribution lines in Bohol.
According to Galano, NGCP will be able to restore the special towers by end of April or first week of May 2022.
STATUS OF THE DIFFERENT DUs
As of the moment, some service areas of Boheco 1 are already getting power from the power barge and the BDPP.
Boheco 1 has already energized 3 substations namely: Loay, and the 2 substations in Panglao town. Boheco 1 has distributed 1.6 megawatts to its essential and some residential consumers, Siga reported.
He added that Boheco 1 expects to complete the restoration of the backbone line by end of this week, Siga bared.
Moreover, Boheco 2’s Engr. Ariel Torrejos said that the DU is busy restoring the backbone lines where the power from the substations will be passing through. Around 1,389 backbone lines were damaged in Boheco 2’s service area, Torrejos added.
He said Boheco 2 expects to complete the restoration of backbone lines by Feb. 11, 2022, which include the lines going to Bien Unido town.
For BLCI, 10 out of 15 barangays of Tagbilaran are already getting electricity, Paga reported.
The BLCI is working on the restoration of some lateral lines in Tagbilaran City.
All of BLCI’s backbone lines have been restored, Paga revealed.
BLCI is receiving 7.98 megawatts from the power barge through the transmission lines of NGCP, which is the source of electricity of BLCI’s essential consumers, Paga explained.