Negros Power mitigated the impact of a major power system maintenance shutdown by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), preventing an all-day power interruption for nearly 50 percent of originally affected consumers.
The NGCP scheduled outage occurred from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, October 25, to facilitate essential maintenance of their facility affecting Bacolod–Alijis 69kV line.
The maintenance work directly impacted Negros Power’s Murcia and Alijis substations, which collectively serve 93,994 customers.
However, through the utility’s advanced load transfer system, the net number of affected consumers was drastically reduced to 47,102, a press release from Negros Power said Sunday.
This crucial intervention demonstrates the effectiveness of Negros Power’s ongoing system rehabilitation and modernized infrastructure, preventing an interruption for 46,892 households and businesses, it said.
Company officials stated that the ability to reroute power and maintain supply to a significant portion of the affected areas is a direct outcome of continuous investments in system automation, redundancy, and equipment upgrades.
Engr. Leomel Tambanillo, Assistant Vice President for Planning and Business Operations and spokesperson for Negros Power, highlighted the tactical approach used.
“We maximized our redundant lines and load break switches to tie up the affected feeders to other feeders and substations with enough supply. This strategic maneuver allowed us to save almost 50 percent of our consumers from the scheduled outage,” Tambanillo said.
Negros Power is simultaneously leveraging the NGCP shutdown window to accelerate its own system upgrades and rehabilitation works, a core component of its comprehensive five-year modernization program for the entire Central Negros area.
The company underscored that every scheduled NGCP interruption is treated as a valuable opportunity to perform internal network upgrades—a strategy aimed at enhancing system performance and reliability while minimizing the need for separate, additional consumer interruptions.
“We always make sure that every time NGCP requests a power interruption, we take advantage of that window to perform our upgrades,” said Tambanillo. “We maximize these opportunities to modernize our system and ensure better service for everyone.”
Tambanillo noted that the company’s rehabilitation initiatives have already resulted in a 70 percent reduction in unexpected power interruptions, demonstrating tangible progress toward its long-term objective of achieving 100 percent uninterrupted power service across Central Negros.
“Our ultimate goal is to make the entire Central Negros power distribution system smarter, stronger, and ultimately free from unscheduled power interruptions,” he said.
“We are investing in technology and infrastructure to make that vision a reality,” he added.
Negros Power expressed gratitude for the patience and support of its consumers, assuring the public that all ongoing works are solely geared toward providing a more stable and future-ready electric service for every stakeholder in the region.*