By Mark Francisco THE rotating blackouts yesterday marred the first day of the registration of new voters in the city. Hundreds trooped to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office along Burgos St. at 8 am only to find out there was no power supply. Because the Comelec office does not have its own generator set, Comelec workers merely handed out priority numbers to the crowd and act on the application papers only in the afternoon. City elections officer Aleli Ramirez said she has asked city hall if it can provide a power generator and fuel given the worsening power crisis in the city and elswhere in Mindanao. The application process, including the filling out of the application form and getting fingerprints and signature, at Comelec takes around 10 minutes. The registration of new and transferring voters would be up to October 2015.

More Losses

The worsening crisis has resulted in more business losses. With the city now experiencing more than seven hours of daily blackouts, a typical small business with a 25-kva generator set has to spend P1,050 each day. But that’s just for a small business like a salon, said Efren Uy, president of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The computation is based on the premise that a 25-kva generator set consumes three liters of diesel an hour with diesel pegged at P50 per liter. A typical fastfood restaurant uses 50-kva generator set. This means that it spends roughly P3,000 a day if the outage is scheduled at seven hours. A bank or a small hotel with no elevator uses a 100-kva generator set which consumes 10 liters an hour or 70 liters per rotating blackout at a total cost of P3,500. Hotels with elevators need a 250-kva generator sets. With an hourly consumption of 25 liters, the hotel establishment needs to spend P8,570 per day to generate its own electricity. Businesses with no generator sets stand to lose more. According to Uy, enterprises such as laundry shops, salons, spas, beauty parlors, barbershops, bakeries, eateries, restaurants and small hotels and inns cannot operate without electricity.