• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A year after taking over the operations of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), Negros Electric and Power Corp. (Negros Power) has already spent P1.2 billion to rehabilitate and modernize the power distribution system in central Negros.
In a briefing on Wednesday (Sept. 3) in Bacolod City, president and chief executive officer Roel Castro said they are ahead of their target as stipulated in the company’s five-year comprehensive rehabilitation and modernization program.
This involves the replacement of aging infrastructure, upgrading of substations, and installation of new equipment like polymer insulators to reduce power interruptions, improve reliability, and enhance energy distribution.
Castro said they were able to reduce the system loss to seven percent, from 12 percent when they took over the Ceneco operations.
Negros Power also provided electricity to 1,300 of 2,300 households they targeted under the Sitio Electrification Program and completed 800 meters of underground cabling on Lacson Street in Bacolod City.
Overall, they have accomplished an average of 27 percent of their five-year development program.
The first three years in the five-year development of Negros Power covers the rehabilitation and standardization phase, including meter replacement and installation of elevated metering centers, rehabilitation of major substations, and improvement of infrastructure such as pole replacement, intermediate installation, and line rehabilitation.
The fourth and fifth years will be the modernization and expansion phase, which will involve the use of a supervisory control and data acquisition system, the establishment of the Capitol Substation, expansion of lines and increased capacity, and continuous improvement of system reliability and capacity.
Castro described the first year of operation of Negros Power as “very, very challenging” as they got all the “baptisms of fire”, including the aspect of safety index.
Negros Power consumers may expect more and better services, he added.
In July last year, Negros Power obtained a franchise to manage and operate the electricity distribution system in the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay, and Silay as well as in the municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto. | GB
