By Mae Singuay
Negros Electric and Power Corporation (Negros Power) has restored power supply for consumers of Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco), following an unexpected interruption for more than 24 hours since Monday, October 14.
Roel Castro, Negros Power president and chief executive officer, said they didn’t hesitate to extend support to Noneco by providing the power distribution utility with two megawatts (MW) of temporary supply from Lopez and Panaogao substations, following their request.
“We understand the difficulties faced by our fellow industry player and neighbor, Noneco, and their consumers during this challenging time,” Castro said.
He hopes this will alleviate the inconvenience Noneco consumers are experiencing.
By 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 16, Negros Power successfully connected and energized the line with Noneco, and started the delivery of 2MW power supply to the Victorias Substation.
Castro said Negros Power’s restoration will continue until Noneco fully restores operations at their Victorias Substation.
Castro also assured member-consumers of Negros Power that this will not affect the company’s load capacity.
“We have sufficient load to meet the demand within our franchise area [in the cities of Bacolod, Talisay, Silay, and Bago, and the towns of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto],” Castro said.
Negros Power will closely monitor substations to ensure a continuous and reliable power supply.
In a press statement released yesterday, Noneco said their 15 megavolt-ampere (MVA) Victorias Substation broke down around 5:50 a.m. on Monday, October 14.
The incident has resulted in a series of power disruptions to about 30,000 consumers in the municipalities of Manapla and E.B. Magalona, as well as Victorias City.
As of press time, Noneco said that partial load shifting to adjacent substations is being done.
They also sought assistance from Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative, based in southern Negros Occidental, to utilize their reserve 10MVA power transformer, while their 15MVA transformer in Victorias is under repair.
The distribution utility in northern Negros also requested Victorias Milling Company, a co-generating company embedded in the Victorias Substation distribution line, to provide a 2.5MW supply of electricity to some affected consumers.
Meanwhile, E.B. Magalona Mayor Marvin Malacon, in an interview yesterday, lambasted Noneco for failure to procure a new power transformer for the Victorias Substation.
Malacon said that in September last year, they had also experienced power disruptions that lasted for almost five days due to a malfunction.
For its part, Noneco said, despite these ongoing efforts, certain isolated areas will remain without power due to the limitations on the load capacity of the current transfers./MS, WDJ