The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will present its Visayas Transmission Plan in Negros Occidental in August to address the call of business leaders to improve the power situation in the region.
This was announced by the NGCP during the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Visayas Area Conference in Bohol on July 27 and 28 during its plenary on the power situation in the region, PCCI-Vice President for the Visayas Frank Carbon told DIGICAST NEGROS on Monday, July 31.
Carbon said that the plan to discuss the transmission lines in the Visayas is necessary for Negros, which depends on its power supply from neighboring Cebu, Leyte, and Panay.
The Visayas Transmission Development Plan was presented during the Business Conference but the business leaders urged NGCP to also present it in Western Visayas, he said.
Carbon, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also hopes that this transmission plan will complement the amount of power supply being generated in the Visayas.
“We cannot power our businesses, industries, and households if we do not have enough transmission lines,” he said, adding “With this plan to increase transmission lines, we hope that the Department of Energy will complement it with ample power supply needed in the Visayas”.
During the plenary session on the power situation in Visayas, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Senate Committee on Energy vice chair, also presented a “Powering Visayas’ Industries” report.
Carbon said that his discussion was centered on how to give Visayas a reliable and sufficient power supply while bringing down the cost of powering the region.
With the transmission plan in place, MBCCI hopes that it could resolve the power supply woes in Negros Island in the next five to ten years, he added.*