• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Some 15,000 households that are member consumer owners (MCOs) of Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (NONECO), may have to endure several more days of power outages, as the management of the electric cooperative management remains uncertain as to when power can be restored.
From Tuesday early morning, up to Wednesday evening (press time), the 23 barangays of E.B. Magalona had no electricity, after the malfunction of a power transformer at its Bacayan substation in Victorias City, Negros Occidental, as reported by NONECO general manager, Wilbe Bilbao.
Power was restored in some areas in Victorias City through power load transfer from the unaffected Manapla substation of NONECO, but the entire E.B. Magalona area has not been energized, as of press time.
The massive power outage prompted E.B. Magalona Mayor Marvin Malacon to demand an explanation from NONECO, after receiving reports that it may take two weeks for the electric cooperative to restore power in all the town’s barangays.
Telecommunication signals were also affected in areas of E.B. Magalona.
Malacon bared plans to buy generator sets in every barangay, for town residents to charge cellular phones and portable lamps.
In August last year, the whole town of E.B, Magalona also suffered a power outage that lasted almost five days, after the NONECO transformer conked out in the same substation. This prompted the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO), as facilitated by Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez, to provide a second hand transformer to address the problem.
The transformer borrowed by NONECO from CENECO also conked out, after more than a year of utilization, Malacon said.
He also recalled that NONECO did not even send a reply to his letter inquiring about the replacement of the damaged transformer, as the mayor expressed his concern that similar problems may occur in the near future.
Indeed, it happened again, a year after, Malacon said.
The mayor said he cannot accept the alibi of NONECO that they have no money to buy a transformer and replace their aging equipment, noting that their power rates are expensive.
If you cannot address this problem, it is better for the electric cooperative to be privatized, as it may benefit its member consumers with cheaper power rates, Malacon said.
He also slammed NONECO for its failure to communicate, or explain to their member consumers, on how they will address the recurring problems.
The power crisis also affected some areas of Manapla and Victorias City.
A statement issued by NONECO on Wednesday said that a 10 MVA transformer, which has been successfully installed will now undergo a series of procedures, including comprehensive testing, leak checks, and degasification.
Once those processes are complete, the results will be submitted to the NGCP for approval to energize the transformer and restore electric service.*