MANILA, Philippines?The Manila Electric Co. has requested that it be allowed to intervene in a case that will require the shutdown of the 230-kilovolt Sucat-Araneta line of National Transmission Corp. as this will hurt many of its customers.

Meralco legal counsel Jose Ronald Valles said the court had accepted Meralco?s motion to intervene, but it has yet to issue an order actually allowing the distribution utility to be an intervenor in the case.

?We?re just waiting for the order allowing us to intervene. The 10-day period to reply starts on Dec. 25. We have until Jan. 2, 2009 to submit a reply, after which the judge will rule whether or not we can intervene,? he said in an interview.

While the fate of the Sucat-Araneta line remained uncertain, Meralco president and chief operating officer Jesus Francisco said the good thing, at this point, was that the line was still live and able to serve customers from as far as Parañaque to Bulacan.

There was an earlier apprehension that the line would have to be cut by Jan. 31, 2009, based on Transco?s pleading, but this had been assuaged by the fact that the judge had deferred the writ of execution and no new date has been set on when the line would have to be de-energized.

The Supreme Court on Oct. 28 issued a final and executory decision ordering the immediate shutdown of the Sucat-Araneta line, favoring residents of Dasmariñas Village and Barangay Dasmariñas in Makati City.

The residents first filed a case with the Makati Regional Trial Court on March 9, 2000, citing the health hazards of electromagnetic radiation generated through the cables as the reason for wanting to de-energize the line.

The Makati RTC issued a temporary restraining order on the construction of the project on April 3, 2000, but this was overturned by the Court of Appeals the following month.

The Dasmariñas residents then brought the case up to the Supreme Court on Nov. 20, 2000, and won the battle on March 23, 2006, with the high tribunal?s reversal of the appellate court?s decision.

The SC decision became final and executory on Oct. 28, 2008, but Transco filed a request to be given until the end of next month to undertake activities to mitigate the effects of the transmission line shutdown.

Transco earlier said that the shutdown of the Sucat-Araneta line would not only cause rotating brownouts in some of Meralco?s service areas, but would also result in an increase of 10.13 centavos a kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the distribution utility?s rates.

Vast areas of Metro Manila and Bulacan?those under the North Sector of Meralco?s franchise area?would also experience power outages lasting two to three hours a day on weekdays.

The affected areas include a major portion of Bulacan province served by Meralco?s Sta. Maria, Bocaue and Meycauayan substations; the entire Caloocan City served by the Grace Park substation; the whole of Novaliches served by the Novaliches, Bagbaguin and Kaybiga substations; Malabon and Valenzuela cities served by the Malabon and Malinta substations; Manila areas served by the North Port, Tegen, Tutuban and Sta. Mesa substations; most of Quezon City served by the Diliman, Kamuning, Sta. Mesa and Novaliches substations, and a portion of the Makati Business District, including Rockwell Center, served by Meralco?s Rockwell Bank No. 1 substation.