- GILBERT BAYORAN
The recent endorsements of support for the proposed Joint Venture Agreement between the Central Negros Electric Cooperative and Ignite Power by top provincial and city officials of Negros Occidental are welcome developments and strong indicators that the acceptability of the JVA is no longer questionable, the consumer’s group, Power Watch Negros, said.
“The JVA is gaining more support,” said Power Watch secretary general Wennie Sancho in a statement, as he cited statements of support from Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer, Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Benitez, and Don Salvador Benedicto Mayor Marxlen dela Cruz.
Sancho said he believes that the JVA has now become a necessity, stressing that the massive power disturbance experienced by the consumers in Western Visayas last month had caused so much inconvenience to the consumers that, literally, “they were robbed of their right to quality life”.
He added that the confluence of events, made glaring by the massive power outage, only shows that Ceneco, as a distribution utility, is getting older and even with planned maintenance, cannot be as efficient as it was before.
Sancho also noted that Ceneco’s infrastructure and equipment become unreliable and obsolete.
“For all intent and purposes, the JVA is a necessity because Ceneco must adapt to modern power technology for a more reliable power supply and efficient electricity services,” he stressed.
Ceneco cannot reduce power outages and system loss unless it will undergo rehabilitation and upgrading, including the acquisition of new equipment designed to ensure customers’ access to reliable and cost-efficient power supply under the auspices of the JVA proponent, Sancho added.
The JVA, Sancho said, is now a necessity, noting that since May 8, the Visayas grid status has been in yellow alert, which means that the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s regulating and contingency requirement.
When there is insufficient power supply in the grid, power interruption must be resorted to, at the inconvenience of the consumers, he further said.
Sancho said that such kind of situation will be exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon due to the intense heat during the dry season.
The JVA will usher in a new era of power distribution with its state-of-the-art technology that would revolutionize the operation of Ceneco-Ignite to provide excellent services to the consumers that is worth the money we are paying for, Sancho pointed out./GB
