Negros Electric and Power Corp. (Negros Power) spent P1.2 billion in its first 12 months to improve power distribution in central Negros Occidental, its president and chief executive officer Roel Castro said on Wednesday, September 3.
The company is ahead of schedule on its five-year development plan to enhance the electrical distribution system in its coverage area, having completed 26 percent of the work in its first year, Castro said at a press briefing at Citadines Bacolod City.
Negros Power has committed to spending P2.5 billion on facility upgrades in its franchise area, which was previously served by the Central Negros Electric Cooperative. They are also open to allocating more funds if needed, Castro said.
Under the 5-year plan Negros Power, which serves the cities of Bacolod, Talisay, Silay, and Bago, and the municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto, has committed to undertake massive rehabilitation work in the first three years and modernization and expansion in the fourth to fifth years.
Looking ahead, Negros Power’s services “should just get better”, Castro said.
Since Negros Power took over from Ceneco it has reduced its systems loss from 12 percent to 7 percent and apprehended 1,034 illegal connections and 1,460 unauthorized loadside connections, he said.
It has also energized 30 sitios with 1,300 households, Castro added.
Negros Power sources approximately 33 percent or about 40 MW of its power supply requirement from renewable energy generated by geothermal power plants operated by Green Core Geothermal Inc. and Energy Development Corporation, Castro said.
This commitment to geothermal energy forms a significant part of Negros Power’s strategy to incorporate sustainable and clean energy into its power mix, supporting the region’s goal of a more reliable and environmentally responsible electricity supply, he said.
However, they also have to keep a balance in the price of renewable energy to protect their consumers, he said.
In the past 12 months they have under taken capacity upgrades of antiquated substations, wires, polls, transformers, meters and pin insulators, including their 69kV Bacolod-Silay line, to ensure reliable delivery of power to their consumers and to prevent brownouts, Castro also said.
They have invested in new equipment and also enhanced customer service, he added.
In the pipeline is the upgrade of the Mountain View substation with a projected budget of P25 million, Murcia substation for P10 million and the acquisition of a 37.5 MVA mobile substation worth P192 million, he said.
The underground cabling of Negros Power wires at Lacson Street is also set this year, he said.
Their problem is whether the telecommunication firms that also have wires along Lacson Street will join the underground cabling move as Negros Power does not have control over them, he added.*