• GILBERT P. BAYORAN

As Negros Power aims to normalize power requirements of 47,000 electric consumers by Monday or Tuesday, it also provided three generator set to the pumping stations of BACIWA PrimeWater, to sustain water supply during rotational brownouts.
The 10 MegaVolt Amperes (MVA) Mobile substation sent by More Power in Iloilo, a sister company of Negros Power, arrived on August 24 in Bacolod to help address the power deficiencies that have been experienced by consumers since Wednesday last week.
The early demise of a 13-year-old power transformer on August 21 led to its early rehabilitation, on top of six other substations that were owned and operated by CENECO, which are now also breaching the standard threshold or already reaching critical operational levels, according to Negros Power spokesperson Jonathan Cabrera.
Cabrera said the three BACIWA pumping stations, connected to Alijis Feeder 3, lacked power generator sets essential for sustaining water supply during the rotational brownouts.
He also announced that the new 18MVA power transformer has already been stationed and installed at the compound of the Alijis substation.
Cabrera reported that preparations are being conducted for the new transformer, including electrical testing and connections both from the 69KV transmission line of the NGCP to the 3-phase automatic circuit reclosers to the Alijis feeder 3 and other feeders.
Negros Power President and CEO Mr. Roel Castro, in a statement, said the situation will normalize by Monday or Tuesday, in the sense that manual load dropping that has affected 47,000 consumers will no longer continue.
Alijis substation holds significant importance, and it is part of the substations that are programmed for rehabilitation under the 5-year rehabilitation plan of Negros Power.
“We are doing something out of the ordinary, and our priority is to restore the power to all the consumers. I know the consumers will not be satisfied with this, but please give us the benefit of the doubt,” added Castro.
Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said that the “Negros Power has committed to rehabilitating and upgrading our power infrastructure—a crucial step toward ensuring the reliable delivery of electricity to Bacolod City.”
Benitez further said that the Bacolod City government will continue working closely with Negros Power to implement immediate solutions and ensure long-term infrastructure improvements for the benefit of all Bacolodnons.
We appreciate the patience and understanding of our citizens during this time. Rest assured, the city government is doing everything within its capacity to expedite the resolution of these issues and ensure a more reliable power supply for everyone, he added.*