6 Months In and There’s More Work to be Done – Negros Power

Negros Power has taken over the distribution utility of Bacolod City and Central Negros effective August 1, 2024. They have been in business for 6 months now and the reality of their operations has been summed up here: Negros Power 5-Year Development Plan | The Reality. What do you think about their work so far?

The Scheduled Power Interruptions

When Negros Power first started, it had already publicized its 5-year development plan. Yes, they are asking for five years because the rehabilitation and modernization will be done in phases. Their work, however, has been hampered by unavoidable factors like the breaking down of the Alijis substation as well as force majeure, like typhoons and the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon.

While working on the upgrades and repairs, it is inevitable for Negros Power to shut down the power of a certain area at a particular time.

Scheduling the planned interruption on weekdays would have a significant economic impact, causing major disruptions to businesses, offices, and industrial operations. Schools and online classes would also be affected.

Meanwhile, the weekend interruptions inconvenience residential customers. With that, Negros Power tries to schedule brownouts early in the morning so that households can still cook, do their laundry, and do their stuff once power is restored during the day.

No Perfect Time

Actually, Negros Power admits that there is no perfect time for everyone to schedule these power interruptions. No matter the time of the power shut-off, someone or a group of people will have to be inconvenienced. They are just picking the time to work with the least overall impact and inconvenience to individual consumers and to businesses.

But this does not come at a disadvantage. Shutting off power early in the morning or at night means that darkness puts extra risk to the linemen. Their work takes longer but they need to be extra careful. Moreover, this adds to the company’s operational costs because it has to pay for overtime work and night premiums to employees and contractors who have to work these unholy hours.

These are just some of the sacrifices so that they can go on with their work as planned. To clear some misconceptions, Negros Power continues to assure the public that there are no charges during brownouts. Consumers are only charges based on their use of electricity.