• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) shut down its major power system maintenance system, which was mitigated by local distributor Negros Power.
Thus, nearly 50 percent of the originally affected consumers were shielded from an all-day power interruption.
The NGCP scheduled outage occurred from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on October 25, to facilitate essential maintenance of their facility affecting Bacolod–Alijis 69kV line.
The maintenance work directly impacted the Murcia and Alijis substations of Negros Power, which collectively serve 93,994 customers.
However, through the utility’s advanced load transfer system, the net number of affected consumers was reduced to 47,102, according to Negros Power.
The intervention demonstrates the effectiveness of Negros Power’s ongoing system rehabilitation and modernized infrastructure, preventing an interruption for 46,892 households and businesses, the distribution facility said.
Engr. Leomel Tambanillo, Negros Power Assistant Vice President for Planning and Business Operations, said the ability to reroute power and maintain supply to a significant portion of the affected areas is a direct outcome of continuous investments in system automation, redundancy, and equipment upgrades.
Tambanillo, who is also the Negros Power spokesperson, who highlighted the tactical approach used, saying they maximized their redundant lines and load break switches to tie up the affected feeders to other feeders and substations with enough supply.
This strategic maneuver allowed us to save almost 50 percent of our consumers from the scheduled outage, he explained.
Negros Power is simultaneously leveraging the NGCP shutdown window to accelerate its own system upgrades and rehabilitation works, a core component of its comprehensive five-year modernization program for the entire Central Negros area.
The company also underscored that every scheduled NGCP interruption is treated as a valuable opportunity to perform internal network upgrades—a strategy aimed at enhancing system performance and reliability while minimizing the need for separate, additional consumer interruptions.
“We always make sure that every time NGCP requests a power interruption, we take advantage of that window to perform our upgrades,” Tambanillo said.
“We maximize these opportunities to modernize our system and ensure better service for everyone,” he further said.
Tambanillo further noted that the company’s rehabilitation initiatives have already resulted in a 70 percent reduction in unexpected power interruptions, demonstrating tangible progress toward its long-term objective of achieving 100 percent uninterrupted power service across Central Negros.
“Our ultimate goal is to make the entire Central Negros power distribution system smarter, stronger, and ultimately free from unscheduled power interruptions,” he said.
“We are investing in technology and infrastructure to make that vision a reality.” Tambanillo further said.*
