• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Following the approval of its franchise by the Senate, the Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC) expects to start its operations in three months after completing all the necessary processes.
In a press briefing Tuesday, May 21, NEPC president Roel Castro assured member-consumers of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) of better service.
House Bill 9805 allows NEPC to establish, operate, and maintain a distribution system for supplying electric power to end-users in the following areas within Negros Occidental: the cities of Bacolod, Silay, Talisay, and Bago; and the municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto through a joint venture agreement with Ceneco.
The representatives of both houses of Congress are expected to meet through a bicameral conference to fine-tune the law’s final version before sending it to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for his signature, and for publication twice in major daily newspapers before it becomes into a law.
NEPC could start its operations in a month and a half or at most in three months, Castro said.
“We have already spent more than P100 million for new meters, poles and wires, among others, in preparation for the execution of the JVA from day one. Give us time, give us space, and we will try to do everything that we could,” he added.
“Capital wise, it is not a question because we already set aside P2 billion for the execution of the joint venture as well as for the capital expenditures (capex) program for Ceneco,” he added.
Castro also announced that they have been engaging in a series of meetings with Ceneco on what substations to be addressed first and which feeder areas to start expanding.
“We will try to do what we can, but what we can assure is better service,” he stressed.
Of more than 400 Ceneco employees, about 230 have already expressed their intention to join NEPC, adding that they are 90 percent done with their temporary office at the second floor of Robinsons East in Bacolod City.
Castro clarified that there will be no “magic quick fix” to the high power rates and the problems in the Ceneco power distribution system.
Castro said that the P2 billion capex will address those concerns and improve services in the next five years.
“We do not want to raise false expectations that there will be a quick fix,” he added.
Ceneco provides electricity to more than 170,000 households and establishments in the cities of Bacolod, Talisay, Silay, and Bago, and the towns of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto in Negros Occidental.
Ceneco acting general manager Arnel Lapore welcomed the granting of congressional franchise to NEPC, saying it would result in “efficient and reliable” power distribution services for Negrenses and Bacoleños.
A transition process would begin after Malacañang’s green light as it waits to secure a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Energy Regulatory Commission, Lapore said. | GB
