Group supports Negros Power’s 5-year development plan

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD CITY – The Utilities Consumers Advocates for Reforms (UCARE), a consumer group here, is urging Central Negros consumers to give Negros Power leeway to implement its 5-year development plan.

Roy Cordova, UCARE convenor, said consumers should expect power interruptions as Negros Power works on improving power distribution facilities.

Cordova added that residents of Bacolod, Bago, Silay, Talisay, Murcia, and Don Salvador Benedicto may experience both scheduled and unscheduled power outages as Negros Electric Power Corporation (Negros Power) continues to repair and rehabilitate the facilities of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco).

Despite the outages, which may also be due to aging power lines, equipment, and substations that need replacement, UCARE remains optimistic that Negros Power will fulfill its mandate to provide a stable and reliable power supply.

Cordova noted that Negros Power is currently in a transition period with Ceneco, following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s approval of its franchise.

“Let us give Negros Power time to implement its 5-year development plan, which includes the rehabilitation and modernization of Ceneco’s facilities to ensure a 24/7 power supply,” Cordova added.

Earlier, Negros Electric and Power Corp (Negros Power) stated that it is continuously clearing power lines of tree branches, which have been causing unexpected power interruptions in Central Negros.

Negros Power reported that 90 percent of the brownouts in Central Negros are caused by tree branches touching power lines.

The company revealed that during their latest inspection and survey of power lines, nearly 2,000 instances of vegetation interference were identified by line teams.

“Tree branches touching power lines may result in the disconnection of feeder breakers as a protective measure for the entire distribution system,” Negros Power explained.

Negros Power further noted that when this happens, line teams must manually search for the location where the branch is touching the power line, which can take hours due to the length of the feeder lines.

These branches are immediately trimmed before reconnecting the feeder breaker to ensure that contact with the line does not recur. However, this is only a temporary solution, the company added.

Once Negros Power formally takes over, they plan to install automatic circuit reclosers on all 43 feeder lines, replace current lines with new insulated cables, install load break switches, and sectionalize cut-outs to provide a permanent solution to vegetation issues and prevent prolonged and frequent brownouts.

Negros Power emphasized that sufficient time is needed to accomplish these tasks and requested the understanding and cooperation of consumers.