• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson yesterday said that Negros Occidental, dubbed as among the top solar electricity producers in the country, remains open to investors in renewable energy.
“We continue to invite power producers of renewable energy to invest in our province,” Lacson said.
Negros Occidental has a generation capacity of 341.5 megawatts (MW) from five solar power firms operating seven plants across the province.
However, it was not spared by a region-wide power outage last week, which badly affected the entire island of Panay.
While Negros has renewable power plants, Lacson said investors of conventional power plants have junked plans to invest in the province.
He disclosed that the power in the province “comes from within and outside of Negros.”
The Regional Development Council (RDC) in Western Visayas has called on the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to investigate the cause of the prolonged power outages that recently hit Western Visayas.
Lacson said he supports moves in Congress “to investigate and find ways how this occurrence can be prevented in the future in any part of the country.”
Senators, led by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, have expressed dismay and concern over the widespread power outage that hit Panay Island and Negros Occidental on January 2.
Power was fully restored in Western Visayas three days after.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), in its latest statement, said the synchronization to the grid and the full operation of the Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC) normalized transmission operations.*
