Bacolod City – More than month after it assumed the operation of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO), the Negros Electric Power Corp., (NEPC) presented recently its P2.5 billion 5-Year Development Plan for its franchise area.
In his presentation before local officials of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, as well as other stakeholders, Negros Power president Roel Castro said they will focus the rehabilitation of aging CENECO equipment and facilities for three years, before modernizing the system, to include major substations and line rehabilitation, pole replacement and intermediate installation.
Castro said the feeders are full and substations are not in the best health. On the consumer’s side, the first thing they will do is the rehabilitation of electric meters, and installation of an elevated metering system.
He reported that seven out of 12 substations are already 25 years old, with Mountain View, Reclamation, Alijis, Sum-ag and Bago substations having gone beyond the safe load of 70 percent, this year.
Among the common causes of power outages were vegetation in more than 2,600 locations, animal intrusion, line asset deterioration and failure, busted fuse of distribution transformer, secondary wire loose connection, service line, and meter troubles, among others.
Once we reach a level where we already have breathing space, which should be in the next three years, then we will go to the next step, which is modernization, he added.
Negros Power is also acquiring a mobile substation, to temporarily serve customers while the permanent substations undergo maintenance, Castro further said.
Castro also announced Negros Power plans to implement an underground cabling initiative, initially along Lacson Street in Bacolod City, establish several Quick Response Teams, and implement a Sitio Electrification Program.
In an interview with the media after his presentation of the Negros Power 5-year Development Plan, he also assured consumers that there will be no increase in the DSM (Distribution Supply Metering), also known as distribution charges.
The distribution, supply and metering (DSM) charges are the components of the power bill which the electric cooperative will retain for its daily operation.
“This is the only thing we have control over,” Castro said, as he also clarified that they have no control when it comes to generation charges.
But the DSM is the one that we can charge, and there wouldn’t be any increase for the next two years, he added.
Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, Murcia Mayor Gerry Rojas, and Silay City Mayor Joedith Gallego attended the presentation, and lauded Negros Power for presenting their 5 year development plan to the stakeholders, including the business sector and consumer groups, among others.
“We are holding on to their words, and execution on the plans they presented,” Benitez said.
Power Watch Negros also described the presentation of Negros Power as “very comprehensive.”
Its secretary general, Wennie Sancho, however, stressed the need for Negros Power to conduct an information dissemination campaign in the grassroots level, presenting their 5 year development plan in layman’s terms. (Gilbert Bayoran via tvds)