The Negros Electric and Power Corp. expects to fully energize central Negros by the weekend.
As of Wednesday morning, 14 percent of power in its coverage area had been restored, Engineer Bailey Del Castillo, NEPC chief operations officer, said.
He said strong winds brought on by Typhoon Tino caused massive damage and that they were doing their best to hasten power restoration.
Seventy teams or about 350 personnel are being utilized by NEPC in the restoration efforts, Del Castillo said.
Augmentation manpower from More Power, their sister company in Iloilo City, is expected this week to help in the restoration work, he said.
As of 8:30 a.m., they had recorded 96 toppled power lines but the number was expected to increase, he said.
He said they have to ensure that power lines to various residences are repaired before restoring power to avoid endangering people’s lives.
Out of 250,000 Negros Power consumers, there were 217,000 still without electricity.
He said there was a total blackout at the height of Typhoon Tino because power was cut off from the grid.*