POWER SUPPLY. The Negros Electric and Power Corp. commissions the 10-megavolt amperes (MVA) mobile substation to normalize power supply to households under the feeders of the Alijis substation on Monday (Aug. 26, 2024). “With the entry of the 10 MVA, rotational brownouts and manual load shedding already stopped,” Negros Power chief operating officer Bernard Bailey del Castillo said on Tuesday (Aug. 27). (Screenshot from Negros Power Facebook video)
BACOLOD CITY – Negros Electric and Power Corp. (Negros Power) will present its transition plan to the City Council here next week after restoring power on Monday to some 48,000 consumers in the southeastern part of the city hit by outages since Aug. 21.
“They will present in detail the modernization program they will implement to upgrade our equipment. They also plan to change our electrical wires,” Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said in a press conference with Negros Power chief operating officer Bernard Bailey del Castillo at the City Mayor's Office on Tuesday.
The massive power outage, which mainly affected residents of Barangay Alijis, Mansilingan, Felisa, and Handumanan, was caused by the breakdown of the 30/37 megavolt amperes (MVA) transformer of the Alijis substation.
Feeders under the Alijis substation have a total demand of 32 megawatts (MW).
Del Castillo said that for years, the transformer has been experiencing overloading, which shortened its lifespan and led to irreparable damage.
To reenergize the affected households, Negros Power commissioned the 10 MVA mobile substation from sister company MORE Power in Iloilo City and continued the tie-ups to the feeders of the other substations.
“With the entry of the 10 MVA, rotational brownouts and manual load shedding already stopped,” Del Castillo said.
He added Negros Power will also commission the 18 MVA new power transformer as an additional capacity by Sept. 2, which will bring the total capacity to 28 MW.
“There is another power transformer we need to assemble and test, it’s a 37 MVA. We will add it as a spare or for contingency,” Del Castillo said, adding that seven of the 11 substations in their franchise area are already more than 25 years old.
Last year, Negros Power entered into a joint venture agreement with Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) to enhance power distribution and customer service to more than 220,000 active accounts.
With an initial capital of PHP2 billion, it will implement a five-year plan to rehabilitate and modernize the electric infrastructure in its franchise area.
Last month, Negros Power was granted the franchise to manage and operate the electricity distribution system in the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay, and Silay, as well as the municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto. (PNA)
