Negros Power restores supply to Alijis feeders

By Dolly Yasa

Negros Electric and Power Corporation (Negros Power) has restored electricity to more than 40,000 consumers served by the Alijis Substation in Bacolod City after several days of outage.

At around 10 a.m. on Monday, Negros Power fully energized the affected area using a 10-megavolt ampere (MVA) mobile substation brought from Iloilo City.

The substation was connected to the feeders of other substations to ensure uninterrupted power delivery.

The mobile substation, with a 12-megawatt (MW) capacity, is sufficient to meet the 9.3 MW demand load of Alijis Feeders 1 and 3.

Alijis Feeder 3 had experienced nearly five days of rotational brownouts due to a supply deficiency from the Murcia Substation, where it was temporarily connected.

But with the energization of the mobile substation, power has returned to normal, and Negros Power will no longer implement rotational brownouts.

Some feeders of the Alijis Substation remain connected to adjacent substations until Negros Power energizes a new 18 MVA transformer, scheduled for September 2.

Roel Z. Castro, President and CEO of Negros Power, acknowledged the significant risk in transporting the 10 MVA mobile substation from their sister company, MORE Power, in Iloilo City.

However, he emphasized that restoring power to Bacolod City consumers was their top priority.

“We are not pleased with what happened, but we are committed to improving the situation for our consumers. Please give us time, space, and the benefit of the doubt. We will prove ourselves in due time,” Castro said following the power restoration.

The early failure of a 13-year-old power transformer on August 21 led to its early rehabilitation, along with six other substations previously owned by Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO), which are now also nearing or exceeding critical operational levels.

These will be prioritized for rehabilitation once Negros Power fully implements its ₱2 billion, 5-year development plan in Central Negros.

Negros Power and CENECO entered into a joint venture agreement primarily to address the financial needs for the rehabilitation and modernization of the electric distribution assets and to meet the power demand of the increasing number of consumers.

At CENECO’s request, Negros Power began deploying its personnel on August 1 to augment the management and operations of the distribution system, which Negros Power had acquired.