BAGUIO: Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco) said it expects to fully restore power in all areas covered by the four feeder lines in Baguio and La Trinidad, Benguet which suffered technical problems on Wednesday. 'Beneco is doing its best to restore power at the soonest possible time,' general manager engineer Melchor Licoben said in a statement released to the media on Tuesday. The power interruption started at around 6:30 p.m. on May 20, affecting feeders 7, 8, 9 and 10, and caused technical problems to the two main breakers of the electric cooperative's substation at North Sanitary Camp here. Licoben said their engineers held a meeting Tuesday morning to assess the situation, and to agree on measures on how to urgently address the situation. Power supply in some areas has been restored and work continues to reenergize the remaining areas. As of Tuesday, the areas without power are Camp Henry T. Allen, Upper Market Subdivision, Kayang Extension, AZCKO, Rizal Monument, Burnham-Legarda-Kisad, Palma-Urba no, MRR Queen of Peace, City Camp Proper, City Camp Central, parts of Bakakeng Central, Bakakeng Norte/Sur (except New Site, Eagle Crest, Ciudad Grande, SLU Bakakeng), Dontogan, Ferdinand Barangay, General Emilio F. Aguinaldo, Imelda R. Marcos, Lower Rock Quarry, Middle Rock Quarry, Upper Rock Quarry, SLU-SVP Housing (Old Site), Sto. Rosario Valley, Sto. Tomas Proper, and Sto. Tomas School Area. Affected areas also include Upper Quirino Magsaysay in Baguio City; Poblacion Tuba, Taloy Norte, Taloy Sur, Tabaan Norte in the municipality of Tuba, Benguet; parts of Balili La Trinidad, Cabanao, Tabangaoen, Benguet State University; parts of Pico along Halsema Highway, Benguet General Hospital, La Trinidad Municipal Hall; parts of Betag, Alapang and Alno in the municipality of La Trinidad, Benguet; Tuel in the municipality of Tublay, and Balluay in the municipality of Sablan. Licoben said that 'while we have restored electricity through diversion, some areas may still experience sporadic outages.' 'We will also s chedule a power interruption today to work on the preventive maintenance of our North Sanitary Camp substation,' he added. Ramel Rifani, Network Department manager, said: 'We will try our very best to restore power today or at the latest tomorrow morning.' Laarni Ilagan of the power cooperative's Consumer Welfare Department said the technical problem was 'caused by the strong rains and monitored lightning (that) struck near power lines on Monday evening following heavy downpours.' "(Engineers) are assessing damage while restoring lines at the same time,' she said. Ilagan said lightning arresters and other necessary protective devices have been placed on their power lines in compliance with internationally-accepted designs and standards but the situation happened due to 'force majeure' or unforeseeable events. 'We cannot prevent it, although we have installed the necessary safety features,' she said, citing that 'instances such as this are isolated.' Ilagan said periodic maintenance activities are also b eing implemented to ensure that substation equipment is in good operating condition. Source: Philippines News Agency