Last month, while we were testing in our respective benches, a power interruption occurred. Our senior engineer asked if we save our reports, luckily, I already save my work because if not, I need to retype it all again. Power interruption affects our everyday life. Let’s discuss here what causes those power outages.

1. Heavy rains and floods.

When I was in Bicol region, every time a heavy rainfall is happening, oftentimes my parents will tell us to take the dinner early because power will be out soon. Since it is better to eat your dinner with fluorescent lamp than gas lamps, we always obey. You might be asking what causes power interruptions during heavy rainfall? I will not go very technical here but the common cause of power interruptions during heavy rainfall is feeder tripping. Feeder is the overhead power line or wires and tripping means disconnection. Feeder tripping means disconnection of power lines to its source. During heavy rain, since water conducts electricity, string of continuous rainwater might short circuit different overhead power lines which disconnect you from the source. So, when you experience outage during rainy days tell your friend its Feeder Tripping.

2. Strong winds and typhoons.

In provinces, we always expect power interruptions during and after the typhoon. Distribution utilities, for instance QUEZELCO I, sometimes intentionally cut the supply during typhoon to avoid further electrical hazards for residences. Tree branches might cause fault, an event where power lines are experiencing large amount of current or power loss, that will trip breakers. Some distribution post might also fall, and live distribution cables is also dangerous for evacuating residents. Blackout is a typical aftermath of typhoon, in provinces, sometimes it takes 6 months to restore the power. Here’s the thing, line man and distribution utility engineers are not superman that can fly and fix those electrical problems, so be patient when blackout occurs because those guys are busy fixing your electricity while you are sleeping and complaining.

3. Insufficient supply from power generating companies.

The flow of power starts from generation to transmission then distribution. Distribution utilities like MERALCO, delivers electricity to your home. If the problem comes from generation stage, transmission and distributions are surely affected. Have you heard the RED and YELLOW ALERT from National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP)? If not, congrats you will learn it now. When NGCP place Luzon power grid to RED ALERT, it means rotational brownouts will occur in Luzon area. RED ALERTS often caused by unplanned maintenance of power plants, for example, last April 2019 NGCP placed Luzon grid to RED alert because 5 power plants are down, oftentimes, it happened during summer due to large demand of power. So before blaming MERALCO for unreliable services, check first the NGCP page for alerts, it might be a generation problem.

4. Schedule preventive maintenance.

Your distribution power lines are not eternally good. Like any other equipment they need maintenance too. Most of the time, preventive maintenance is performed during midnight, from 12am to 5am, this is to avoid power interruption during business hours. Preventive maintenance is performed to ensure reliable power supply services.

So, brownout or blackout? It depends. When the electricity just fluctuates and returned, it’s a BROWNOUT. However, if your power is completely loss and didn’t return for a long period of time, it’s BLACKOUT. It’s complicated. To make sure that you are correct, get your voltmeter and measured your convenience outlet. If you can still measure a voltage like 50V, it’s just brownout, it it’s zero voltage it’s blackout. When in doubt, just pray. Haha