By MAE SINGUAY
Power consumers in Central Negros have more reasons to smile this MassKara Festival as Negros Electric and Power Corporation (Negros Power) embarked on its five-year development plan which promises to deliver reliable power services in Central Negros Electric Cooperative’s (Ceneco) franchise areas.
Efficient service, lower power costs, fewer brownouts, and better customer service are just some of the things Negrenses should expect from Negros Power.
Under its five-year development plan, Negros Power will focus on enhancing Ceneco’s power distribution infrastructure by investing in the refurbishment of electrical equipment and substations, implementing new technologies, upgrading systems, and deploying modern facilities.
Negros Power remains dedicated to delivering improved services to the Negrenses through investing P2.5 billion in its five-year roadmap, aiming to meet Central Negros’ demand for enhanced service and reliable power in years to come.
“That is our dream. That is our promise. We know it is not that fast that we can do it, but we will be doing it one at a time,” Engineer Bailey del Castillo, chief operations officer of Negros Power, said.
“We can implement all of those dreams and we need budget and capital expenditures. The company has allocated more than P2.1 billion for all of that dream,” he added.
Based on the five-year power development plan, in the next one to three years, Negros Power will focus on the rehabilitation and standardization of electrical facilities, which also includes
* meter replacement and installation of elevated metering centers
* rehabilitation of major substations
* improve infrastructure: pole replacement, intermediate installation and line rehab
* implementation of distribution utility best practices, such as 69 kilo-volt (kV) looping, in/out configuration at 69 kV line for line reliability and protection, load break switchers and auto circuit reclosers installation for feeder tie-ups and faster fault isolation, and replacement of old pin insulators
In the fourth and fifth years, Negros Power will begin the modernization and expansion of power facilities, which includes
* establishment of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System for real-time monitoring, control and data acquisition
* new Capitol substation
* expansion of lines and increased capacity
* continuous improvement of system reliability and capacity
* deployment of innovative solutions, such as increasing response teams and deploying quick response teams on motorbikes for efficient troubleshooting in challenging locations
Negros Power has started to implement its five-year development plan to mitigate the long agony of the more than 220,000 member-consumers of Ceneco.
Frequent interruptions and high power rates, among others, add to the daily burden of many power consumers in Ceneco’s franchise areas, such as Negros Occidental cities of Bago, Talisay and Silay, the towns of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto, as well as capital Bacolod City.
EFFICIENT SERVICE AND FEWER OUTAGES
Del Castillo believes power systems in the franchise area will be stable in the next three to five years as they continue to invest in up-to-date and modern power machineries and electrical equipment, as part of the rehabilitation of Ceneco’s facilities.
Negros Power procured a 37 megavolt-amperes (MVA) mobile substation for the Alijis Substation, targeting to install it by December of this year, so that the substation will have a total capacity of 55MVA.
They also installed their newly acquired 18MVA power transformer, and augmented the 10MVA mobile substation from its sister company, MORE Electric and Power Corporation in Iloilo City.
An additional budget of P54 million is allocated for new distribution transformers to carry additional capacity for an increasing number of customers and demand.
The substations in Mountain View, Murcia and Sum-ag are next to be rehabilitated by the second quarter of 2025.
Del Castillo said these substations have been serving more than 232,000 Ceneco consumers for almost three decades already, and they are on Negros Power’s rehabilitation priority list.
Negros Power will also prioritize the Bacolod to Silay transmission lines in some secluded areas by transferring them along the road so that they can immediately conduct maintenance easily.
The company has started the installation of automatic circuit reclosers on several feeders.
Negros Power also implemented the reconductoring of bare wires by replacing them with insulated conductors, to ensure that there will be no power interruptions due to vegetation, foreign objects and wildlife interference.
A few weeks since their takeover, Bacolod City suffered a widespread power outage across all seven connected feeders after Ceneco’s 13-year-old 37MVA power transformer at Alijis Substation broke down due to overloading capacity on August 21.
Del Castillo said the dilapidated transformer was expected to take several weeks to fully restore.
However, through Negros Power’s immediate response and expertise, it took only about six days to fully restore electricity in affected areas.
Meanwhile, Del Castillo explained that through SCADA, they can supervise and remotely control the power systems without physically visiting the facilities.
The SCADA System shows real-time monitoring, control and data acquisition, while enhancing efficiency, reliability and safety in optimizing fault detection, response and restoration of power facilities.
Negros Power also plans to transfer to its permanent office in Bacolod City’s Barangay Bata in November, where it will also house its New Control Center Building and SCADA System.
Currently, Negros Power is doing business in its temporary office on the second floor of Robinsons Place Bacolod in Barangay Villamonte.
The transition to Negros Power took effect on August 1, pending the release of its Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Energy Regulatory Commission to officially take full control of the operation.
Republic Act No. 12011, or a franchise which aims to establish, operate and maintain electric distribution systems in Ceneco’s franchise areas, and ensure continuous and uninterrupted electricity supply, was granted to Negros Power on July 26.
Ceneco and Negros Power entered into a joint venture agreement in June 2023.
LOWER POWER RATES
In the first two months since their transition, Del Castillo said Negros Power’s electricity rate per kilowatt-hour (kWh) has been lowered by P2, from Ceneco’s P12 kWh rate last July, compared to rates in other Negros-based cooperatives.
“We are in negotiations with power suppliers. Hopefully, they will agree with the lower rates, and further go down. Our energy sourcing team is working on it,” Del Castillo stressed.
Also part of the development plan is the system loss reduction program, targeting to achieve a 70 percent reduction in system loss contributed by metering inaccuracies in the last five years.
Approximately 440,000 kWh of energy per year will be recovered through testing and replacing high voltage and low voltage meters, as well as checking the accuracy of the multiplier, possible damage and pilferage.
“Mga meter na nasira na, system loss ‘yan. Ang luma inaccurate na. We started replacing the new meter to correct the defect,” Del Castillo said.
“Once our Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity is granted, we will be doing massive apprehension against pilferers. Ang daming nakaw,” Del Castillo pointed out.
For now, a dedicated task-force team is deployed to combat illegal connections.
Del Castillo hopes illegal connections will be legalized through giving amnesty to pilferers by allowing them to apply for electric meters.
Negros Power targets to conduct massive replacement of old and defective 20,000 electromechanical kWh-meters for the entire franchise area.
They are also targeting more than 120 locations for low voltage correction.
BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE
Providing better customer service is one of the important initiatives of Negros Power, through fast tracking consumers’ application and service connection.
Negros Power is planning to put up new offices in other franchise areas, besides Bacolod, Bago and Talisay, to make transactions easier for consumers.
“Aside from walk-in transactions, we are shifting now to social media through ‘I-chat mo na lang,’” Del Castillo cited.
Consumers are encouraged to air their complaints by just leaving a message via Negros Power’s Facebook page, instead of calling their hotline numbers.
That way, complaints and requests are sure to be accommodated by 12 social media associates, under the Customer Care Department, who are on a three-shift duty, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Del Castillo said.
Likewise, 21 response teams and five response teams are on standby for faster and more efficient troubleshooting in challenging locations during power interruptions and emergencies.
Del Castillo said customers can also pay their bills conveniently through accredited third-party collecting partner agents and banks.
Negros Power also implements electronic billing, an environment-friendly way to receive bills through email, without the need to get hard copies.
By next year, Del Castillo said that they will start the development of their mobile app, where consumers can see their bills, payments and other transactions in just a few clicks.
MASSKARA PREVENTIVE ACTIVITIES
Negros Power ensures that no power interruptions will occur during the MassKara Festival highlights from October 26 to 27.
Preventive activities have been done ahead of the festivities, especially at four festival sites — Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC), Lacson Tourism Strip, Bacolod Public Plaza, and Megaworld The Upper East.
Deployed Negros Power personnel cleared electrical poles, lines and substations from vegetation along Lacson Street, one of the venues for MassKara highlights.
Vegetation is the most common cause of the power outages, Del Castillo said.
Negros Power also installed and upgraded four additional distribution transformers to bolster the load due to power demand during the festival.
They have installed 100 kilovolt-ampere transformers (kVA) in Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol Lagoon, where the Lacson Tourism Strip is situated; 100 kVA in the Bacolod Public Plaza; as well as 37.5 kVA and 50 kVA near BCGC.
They also tied up feeder links by transferring power sources to another substation in case of sudden power disruption, Del Castillo said.
However, Negros Power can’t guarantee that no power interruptions will occur because some substations, mostly defective, have started to undergo rehabilitation in the past two months, as part of their five-year development plan.
Negros Power has temporarily suspended the ongoing rehabilitation of substations in Bacolod ahead of the festivities, although they scheduled power interruptions in local government units outside the city.
By November, their rehabilitation continues by upgrading and modernizing old electrical lines and posts.
Del Castillo said they are monitoring “hotspot areas” — or loose electrical connections caused by high temperatures exceeding 35 to 55 degrees Celsius — in the Reclamation and Mountain View substations, as well as transformers and secondary line along Lacson Street.
In case of inclement weather during the festivities, Negros Power will replace insulators in their facilities at festival sites which could have high power demand so that it can withstand bad weather.
Days ahead of the MassKara Festival highlights, Negros Power deployed complaint desks at four festival sites to accommodate complaints from consumers and provide solutions.
Negros Power’s preventive activities ensure that Negrenses can have the most vibrant MassKara Festival while implementing its five-year development plan./MS, WDJ