Electricity at Home and You

• There are 3 large power grids that are capable to cater the needsof Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
• They are supplied by independent power producers (IPPs) and the Public Sector and Liabilities Management Corporation.
• These power producers need to sell the energy they are generating by going through the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC).
• The physical facilities that make that happen are owned by the National Transmission Company (TransCo.)
• The management of the transmission lines is handled by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
• This corporation is the one who coordinate with various distributors that are composed of 150 individual distributors, 121 electric cooperatives, and other retail electricity supplied all over the Philippines.
• These distributors, such as the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) for the NCR and Central Luzon, the Visayan Electric Company (VECO) for Visayas, or the various electric cooperatives in Mindanao, are often tasked to bill you for every step the electric power has to take to reach your home.
• Section 10 of R.A. 9513 - act promoting the development utilization and commercialization of renewable energy resources and for other purposes.
• There are switches and distribution lines that have strategically placed the flow or close them all together.
• distribution feeder circuits - route the power from the substation to where it is supposed to go.
• lightning arresters, protective relays, fuses, and specialized switches - they try to keep the distribution lines safe and operational even if there is a part in the network or loop that needs to be fixed.
• primary circuits (feeders) - power lines where the electricity flows through, which are three wires that are at the top of the electric pole arranged side-by-side horizontally.
• secondary lines - power lines that come out.
• service lines or service - secondary lines that enter your home.
• The service lines are three wires coming from the secondary line, where two of the wires are hot wires carrying the electricity and a neutral one.
• electric meter - measures the amount of electric power the facility uses in a certain amount of time.
• service entrance panel - distribution enter for the electricity that services the different parts of the home.
• circuit breakers - helps regulate the electricity coming in and protect your appliances and other electrical fixtures.
• electric meter -measures the power consumption in terms of kilowatt hours.
• 2 kinds of meters that are used by most electricity distributors:

  Analog Meters

  Digital Meters
• analog meter - also known as electromechanical meter. They use a series of four or five dials that spin in alternating directions.
• digital meter - shows a liquid screen display (LCD) screen for the reading.
• Formula for daily consumption of electricity:

  Reading B - Reading A / 30 days
• fuse box - box that houses the fuse.
• fuse - device that protects your circuit from electric surges usually found in older homes.
• circuit breaker - device that breaks up the current.
• ground/earth - conducting paths for the excess charges in a nail that is literally nailed into the ground that serves the same purpose.
• lightning - another danger to electricity in the home.
• surge protecting device - could redirect the surge of electricity from lightning or fluctuations in the electric power supply.