Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Yolanda, cut a devastating path through the Visayas, a group of islands in the central part of the coun- try. All of the power systems hit by the storm were rural electric co-ops. Of the nation’s 119 co-ops, 33 sustained significant damage, and 11, includ- ing LEYECO II, were wiped out. The death toll surpassed 6,000, and the Visayas were cut off from the world: 5,400 barangays, or villages, lost pow- er, and 120,000 homes were destroyed. The Philippines National Electrifica- tion Administration (NEA, an agency similar to the U.S. Rural Electrifica- tion Administration) reported that the total cost of reconstruction would ex- ceed $120 million, an enormous sum for the developing nation.
“By the time I arrived to LEYECO II and the rest of the electric co-ops in that region, both aerial and ground as- sessment showed 100 percent destruc- tion,” says NEA Administrator Edith Bueno. “The electric co-op personnel all suffered loss of family. But we had to begin the rehabilitation work, so we helped in strengthening each other to keep everyone focused and deter- mined. They needed not only finan- cial assistance but morale and ground support as well.”
Within 24 hours, volunteers from other electric co-ops began leaving their homes for the disaster zone, ar- riving in batches once the seaports and roads were cleared. Eventually, more than 1,000 linemen and technical per- sonnel from 70 Philippines electric co- ops brought their equipment, trucks, and fuel to restore power.
“It was necessary to start the jour- ney of lighting up these areas fast,” Bueno said during a general session presentation at NRECA’s 2014 Annu- al Meeting in Nashville, Tenn. “Street lights were switched on first to pro- vide hope, followed by the major town centers, most urgently hospitals and public service areas.”
Within hours after the typhoon had passed, the NRECA International had launched a fundraising campaign to help under- write restoration efforts. Two weeks later, NRECA International dis- patched a rapid assessment team to determine how best to supplement the NEA’s recovery efforts. Within a few months, U.S. electric co-ops and private donors had raised $120,000.
In February this year, Mike Guidry, former NRECA board pres- ident, and NRECA Executive Vice President Martin Lowery traveled to the Philippines to present checks to the 11 worst-hit co-ops. They also vis- ited the devastated areas and saw first- hand the leveled homes, the makeshift shelters, the graves.
Guidry, former general manager of South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association, is no stranger to weather disasters, having overseen storm resto- ration after hurricanes Katrina, Gus- tav, and Ike.
“I never saw anything like the to- tal devastation I’ve seen here,” Guidry told ECT.coop at the time.
50 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP
The strong relationship NRECA and its member co-ops have with the Philippines began nearly 50 years ago. Back then, eight out of 10 Filipinos lived in rural areas, and less than 10 percent of the population had access to electricity. In August 1969, the Philippines government, acting on recommendations from NRECA International, established the NEA and set a national goal of universal electrification, primarily through the creation of rural electric co-ops. Today, electricity is avail- able to 80 percent of the rural population.
Taking the connection further in the 1990s, many electric co-ops across the United States entered into sister relationships with Filipino co-ops to help them improve governance, strengthen management practices, and expand access to electric service. “My first trip to work with the electric co-ops in the Philippines reminded me of the early REA [Rural Electrification Administration] program here in the United States,” recalls Chuck Dawsey, retired CEO of Benton REA in Washington and a former NRECA board member. “In 1991, Benton REA entered a sister co-op relationship with LANECO, an electric co-op in Mindanao, and I quickly saw the importance of working with the co-ops and the people in the Philippines to accomplish the common objective of providing electricity. It’s where we can work together at an individual level to share ideas, experiences, and learn by working with the people.”
SHARING EXPERTISE
In August, with recovery efforts in full swing, co-op officials in the United States and the Philippines began to turn their attentions to broader issues. A peer-to-peer exchange forum was organized by NEA and NRECA, the second of its kind but the first since Haiyan struck. NRECA International staff, members of the NRECA board’s International Committee (Eston Glover, president & CEO of Pennyrile RECC in Kentucky; Ron Schwartau, president of Nobles Cooperative Electric in Minnesota; and Bryan Wolfe, president of the board of Umatilla Electric Cooperative in Or- egon), and Kaua‘i Island Utility Co- operative Director Peter Yukimura, allt raveled to Manila to participate, ex- changing ideas and perspectives on a variety of topics.
Glover hosted a discussion on disaster preparedness, a subject near the top of the agenda. During the session, it struck him that Filipino co-ops are in a similar predicament that 1940s U.S. electric co-ops were in: consumed by day-to-day operational challenges and unable to focus on key planning priorities.
“They are dealing with issues in the infancy—they are where we were years ago,” Glover recalls. “Their main focus is to get the lights on. They have brownouts, blackouts, and they’re operating with a different kind of priority.”
Despite this, Glover says the group agreed it was ready to aggressively tackle preparedness and planning.
“They are doing the same thing we are doing when we face a disaster in Kentucky,” Glover says. “They asked each other what is in place, what they can do to work together, and they realized they need a plan.”
Some say that forums like this are where NRECA and U.S. co-ops can deliver one of their most valuable contributions: the combined experiences and insights of the American electric co-op program.
“We have all this expertise that we can share,” Schwartau says. He partici- pated in the discussion forum and has also volunteered in South Sudan, Gua- temala, and the Philippines. “By continuing to have the peer-to-peer exchange with the Philippine co-op program, we can bring them to where we are today.”
But Dawsey notes the relationship is far from one-sided.
“I believe that we learn as much from the Philippine electric co-ops as they learn from us,” he says. “They can learn from our mistakes. And our individual co-op missions can be reinvigorated and inspired by under- standing the challenges facing the Philippine co-ops and appreciating their resiliency, determination, and dedication to the electrification program.”
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
NEA Administrator Bueno’s decision to prioritize street- lights after Typhoon Haiyan hit allowed residents to celebrate Christmas last year with their town centers lit. To- day, power has been restored in 341 towns, more than 7,000 villages, and about 1.4 million households. She expects most families that left after the storm will eventually return and rebuild their homes. But, she says, it is clear that more needs to be done to ensure the region’s rebuilt electric system can weather the next Haiyan and that procedures are in place for responding quickly and effectively when disaster strikes. With that goal in mind, Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III established a “Build Back Better” policy for all restoration efforts. The program mandates, among other things, that distribution system standards and specifications be reviewed and strengthened to better withstand storms. NEA is also working on a variety of restoration-focused tasks: assembling regional pools of linemen and electricians so impacted areas will have a technical team to respond quickly to disasters; building a stock of distribution equipment, including poles, transformers, conductor, and meters; and creating a fund specifically to mobilize and dispatch volunteers, technicians, and equipment following a disaster.
“While the Philippines is found in the typhoon or disaster belt zone, we have become too dependent on our own common and traditional practices on disasters, which at this time have proven to be insufficient,” Bueno said in her NRECA Annual Meeting speech. “The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,100 islands. It has enjoyed 24/7 power, mostly due to the hard work of 119 electric co-ops serving 10 million. These electric co-ops learned from you and will never forget.”
Dawsey recalls a conversation with Bueno soon after Haiyan left the Visayas in shambles. Their discussion revealed the need for U.S. and Philippines co-ops to share ideas on recovering from natural disasters.
“We have processes in place that enable co-ops to respond quickly to natural disasters,” Dawsey says. “Emergency planning and disaster-recovery plans which provid- ed for stockpiling storm restoration materials, execution of mutual-aid agreements with surrounding co-ops these are just a few examples that may be of interest to the Philippine co-ops.”
And interested they are.
“I have requested NRECA to help us train our lectric co-ops to further enhance their knowledge by learning from NRECA’s own experience,” Bueno says. “I am looking forward to this kind of assistance.”
In light of the increased frequency and ferocity of ty- phoons, NRECA International worked with Bueno and the NEA on ways to make the Philippines’ power distri- bution infrastructure more storm resilient. The groups are now seeking funding to develop and implement the recommendations. Measures include reviewing engineering standards and recent wind speed data, revising de- sign and material standards, and es- tablishing emergency response and disaster recovery plans.
“We are ready to help them make these institutional changes to ensure their distribution systems are strong and the people have access to sustain- able energy,” says Dan Waddle, senior vice president of NRECA Interna- tional. “It is important that these im- provements withstand not just nat- ural disasters but also any political and governmental changes that occur within the country.”
MOVING FORWARD
The immediate challenge is daunt- ing: completing reconstruction after Haiyan paired with the long- term task of improving infrastruc- ture and procedures to withstand and respond to Mother Nature’s many threats. But all agree the Filipino bayanihan, or spirit of cooperation, remains strong, and Bueno says the island nation’s appreciation for NRECA and U.S.-based electric co-ops is evident.
“NRECA, NEA, and PhilRECA [the Phillipines Rural Electric Cooperative Association] have had a long standing relationship, and it has become stronger in the past years,” Bueno says. “We seek NRECA for its own experience and continue to harness this healthy and productive relationship.”
Pennyrile RECC’s Glover says the desire of Co-op Nation to continue to help is equally strong.
“It comes from the heart, and NRECA and the U.S. electric co-ops are at the right place to do this,” he says. “We enjoy such a good life, and why wouldn’t we want to share it with others so they also can have a better life?”
On the home front, LEYECO II’s Avestruz is determined to help her members even if her immediate surroundings still show signs of Haiyan’s fury.
“Today, our offices would fail a fire inspection. We have spaghetti wire. But at least our windows are not broken anymore,” she says. “Priorities for funding have always been getting our distribution lines up, and our office needs are secondary. But we consider ourselves survivors, not victims, and we have a lot of reasons to move forward.”