Two consumers’ groups in central Negros Occidental on Wednesday, August 28, thanked Negros Electric and Power Corp. for its swift action in restoring the Alijis substation supply.
Power Watch Negros (PWN), through its secretary-general Wennie Sancho, and the Utilities Consumers Advocate for Reforms (UCARE) through its convenor Roy Cordova, in separate press releases, expressed their gratitude for “the concern showed by Negros Power to the 48,000 affected homes” due to the breakdown of the 13-year-old Alijis substation facility.
“The inconvenience brought about by the recent power interruptions in Brgy. Alijis, Bacolod City, and other affected areas were disruptive. But the case of a busted transformer that was the root cause of the blackout must be investigated, in order to prevent the occurrence of the same incident in the future,” Sancho said.
“With the risk of power outages in the future, it is crucial for Negros Power to assess the aging equipment of CENECO in terms of its utility value. It is hard to swallow the truth that the energy infrastructure of CENECO is vulnerable and is undermaintained or its distribution lines are weak, and more likely to experience system scale failures. This is a big challenge for the rehabilitation program of Negros Power.”
“On the other hand, how the power system is restored after a sudden blackout is a complex process. However, when we help restore power in the franchise area of Negros Power, after a brownout, we are not just fixing a technical issue. We are saving lives, keeping the business running and preventing major economic losses,” Sancho also said.
“The ability to quickly restore power after a blackout is crucial for maintaining a resilient power system. Power system restoration is a highly intricate process, involving multiple steps, numerous operational decisions, and complex technical constraints, making it a challenging task,” he added.
UCARE
UCARE said that it is “grateful to Negros Power for all the efforts done for the early restoration and reenergization of electric power for the consumers covered by the feeders of Alijis sub-station”.
“The immediate arrival of the 10MVA mobile substation from MORE Power Iloilo and the installation and connection to the Alijis substation enabled NEPC to solve urgently the power woes brought about by the breakdown of the aging power transformer of Ceneco”, it said.
“The precision undertaken by Negros Power to restore electricity is indeed proving that NEPC is a distribution utility that will be trusted for the supply of reliable power,” it said.*