NEPC, Negros Power, Negros Power infrastructure, Bacolod City, Central Negros, Negros Occidental, 5-year plan, modernization, DU, distribution utility, brownout

Negros Power 5-Year Development Plan | The Reality

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Last year, we announced that Negros Power launched its 5-Year Development Plan, following the approval of its Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). The development plan mostly involves the rehabilitation and modernization of distribution utility (DU) infrastructure in Bacolod City and Central Negros. It took over an aging, dilapidated, and substandard system from CENECO, which will take a lot of budget and work to rehabilitate. Negros Power is going to implement the plan in phases so that the electrical distribution system will meet current and future demands.

Investing in Infrastructure for Reliable Electricity

To make this transformation possible, Negros Power has allocated a substantial budget of PhP 2.5 billion pesos for its rehabilitation and modernization plan. This investment is critical, considering CENECO’s previous financial constraints that led to unreliable and inefficient electricity services.

The outdated substations, worn-out lines, aging poles, and transformers, along with the lack of new equipment, contributed to frequent unscheduled power interruptions, increased system losses, and a decline in electricity quality.

Negros Power is stepping in to correct these long-standing issues, ensuring that the power supply keeps pace with the region’s growth and development. Bacolod City and the rest of Central Negros experienced exponential developments so much that a mere electric cooperative could no longer provide its needs.

Without this much-needed investment, Central Negros would be facing a future of worsening outages and an electrical grid struggling to support increasing demand.

Addressing the Challenges

While this transformation is essential, it doesn’t come without challenges. The rehabilitation and modernization process involves working on physical infrastructure, handling complex systems, and dealing with the nature of electricity itself. These actors come with inherent risks and inconveniences.

A key part of this process includes temporary power outages (BROWNOUTS) during critical repairs and upgrades. To ensure long-term reliability, Negros Power is prioritizing the most crucial components:

These elements form the backbone of the electrical system, and any failures here can lead to widespread, prolonged outages.

Read: Fixing Hotspots and Bacolod Brownouts at Dawn Explained

Negros Power continues-Bacolod-Silay 69kV sub-transmission line - NEPC linemen 5
This weekend, teams of Negros Power linemen continued the maintenance of the Bacolod-Silay 69KV Sub Transmission Lines.

A Phased Approach for Minimal Disruption

With a 5-year timeline, the work will be carried out in phases to minimize consumer disruptions. While power interruptions may still occur, Negros Power is committed to providing advance schedules so that residents and businesses can plan accordingly.

Think of it like taking your phone to a repair shop—it’s inconvenient to be without it while it’s being fixed, but once it’s back, it works better than ever. The same logic applies to power infrastructure: temporary inconveniences now will lead to a more stable, efficient, and reliable electricity supply in the future.

A Brighter Future Ahead

We must trust that Negros Power is taking the right steps to improve the power system for the long haul. By embracing these necessary upgrades, we are paving the way for a better, more dependable energy future for Central Negros.

This is what we all want, right?

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