Negros Power eyes cable system completion before MassKara

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD CITY – Negros Power is targeting to complete its underground cable distribution system along one of the city’s main thoroughfares before the MassKara Festival next month.

The project is part of the company’s first-year report presented to the media Wednesday by Negros Power President and Chief Executive Officer Roel Castro during “Negros Power Shares Milestones to the Press.”

Spanning 800 meters, the underground cable system is included in the firm’s five-year rehabilitation and development plan, a year after it took over the Central Negros Electric Cooperative franchise area.

Castro said a challenge is whether telecommunication companies with wires along Lacson Street will join the underground cabling initiative.

“Negros Power does not have control over the telcos,” he noted.

Castro said of the PHP 2.5 billion earmarked for development and rehabilitation, PHP 1.2 billion was spent in the first 12 months.

He added that more resources could be allocated if needed.

Among the company’s major achievements is reducing systems loss from 12% to 7%.

It has also apprehended 1,034 illegal connections and 1,460 unauthorized loadside connections.

In addition, 30 sitios have been energized, benefitting more than 1,000 families out of 232 unenergized sitios in the franchise area.

Castro said Negros Power has committed to energize the remaining sitios within three years.

Over the past year, the company upgraded substations, wires, poles, transformers, meters, and pin insulators, including its 69kV Bacolod-Silay line, to improve reliability and reduce brownouts.

The firm also invested in new equipment and enhanced customer service.

Planned projects include upgrading the Mountain View substation with a PHP 25 million budget, upgrading the Murcia substation for PHP 10 million, and acquiring a 37.5 MVA mobile substation worth PHP 192 million.

Castro said Negros Power sources about 33% or 40 MW of its power requirements from renewable energy supplied by geothermal plants operated by Green Core Geothermal Inc. and Energy Development Corp.

He said the shift to geothermal energy is part of the firm’s strategy to integrate clean power into its mix, supporting the region’s drive for a more reliable and sustainable energy supply.