An explosion and fire at the power feeder at the reclamation area in Purok Malipayon, Barangay 35, Bacolod City, plunged Negros and Panay into darkness at 12:57 a.m. Saturday, October 15, 2022.
Power was gradually restored throughout Saturday.
Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO), in a statement, said there was a leakage in the distribution line insulator of the Reclamation Feeder 5 (RF5) and it was not known why the automatic tripping function of its recloser did not activate.
This led to the burning of a power cable and the recloser, CENECO said.
CENECO had no estimate of the cost of damage, but a Bureau of Fire Protection report placed it at P30,000.
A CENECO investigation of the incident is still underway.
Power consumers of CENECO, the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative, Northern Negros Electric Cooperative and the Panay sub grid were affected.
The power loss in the Panay and Negros sub grids was due to isolation of the Bacolod-Kabankalan and Bacolod – Cadiz 138kV lines of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative said.
Netizens’ videos of the explosion and fire went viral on social media on Saturday.*