Power Restored in 65 Storm-Hit Biliran Villages

The Biliran Electric Cooperative (Bileco) has restored electricity supply to 65 out of 117 villages in province after tropical storm “Urduja” damaged power lines.

In a statement released Thursday, Bileco said of all the seven towns connected to the main grid, only the town of Kawayan is now experiencing power outage since the storm pummeled the region last week.

“Restoration works have been hampered by mobility as some roads are still inaccessible due to landslides and damaged bridges. Our priority is to repair the backbone leading to Kawayan town to attain 100 percent energization in all covered towns,” the electric cooperative said in statement issued Thursday noon.

Bileco, the sole power service provider in Biliran province, has 34,066 household connections in 117 villages.

In an advisory issued on December 18, the NGCP said power transmission operations in Visayas are back to normal operations as the firm successfully completed the restoration of lines damaged by the storm.

The cooperative’s initial report showed that more than a hundred electric poles were toppled or with damage cost of primary lines pegged at PHP11 million as of December 18.

Early this week, the Bileco board of directors passed several resolutions to avail of calamity loan from the National Electrification Administration and approve the emergency purchase of rehabilitation materials after the local government declared Biliran province under a state of calamity.