POWER IS BACK: Negros Power restored the electricity of Alijis feeders

In an extraordinary effort, Negros Electric and Power Corporation (Negros Power) restored the electricity of the more than 40,000 consumers of the conked-out Alijis Substation in Bacolod City.

At around 10 a.m. on Monday, Negros Power fully energized and delivered the electricity to the affected customers through the 10 MegaVolt Amperes (MVA) mobile substation that they brought to Alijis Substation from Iloilo City and the tie-ups to the feeders of the other substations.

The mobile substation with 12 MegaWatts (MW) capacity is enough to power the 9.3MW demand load of Alijis Feeders 1 and 3.

Alijis Fedder 3 suffered for almost five days of rotational brownouts due to a supply deficiency from the Murcia substation, where it was temporarily tied up.

However, with the energization of the mobile substation, the power has returned to normal, and no more rotational brownouts will be implemented by Negros Power.

Some feeders of the Alijis substation remain tied up to adjacent substations until Negros Power energizes the 18MVA new power transformer, which is scheduled on September 2.

Roel Z Castro, President and Chief Executive Officer of Negros Power, said that their decision to bring the 10MVA mobile station of MORE Power from Iloilo City is a significant risk on their part because it is the asset of their sister company. Still, they must take the risk because they prioritize restoring Bacolod City consumers’ electricity immediately.

“We are not happy about what has happened but are committed to making things better for the consumers. Just give us time, space, and the benefit of the doubt. We will prove ourselves in due time,” Castro said after the restoration of the electricity.

The early demise of its 13-year-old power transformer last August 21 led to its early rehabilitation on top of six other substations owned by Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) previously, which are now also breaching the standard threshold or already reaching critical operational levels. They will prioritize their rehabilitation once Negros Power fully implements the Two Billion pesos 5-year development plan in Central Negros.

Negros Power and CENECO entered into a Joint Venture Agreement primarily to augment the financial needs in the rehabilitation and modernization of the electric distribution assets and meet the power demand of the increasing number of consumers.

At the request of CENECO, beginning on August 1, Negros Power began deploying its personnel to augment the management and operations of the distribution system of CENECO which Negros Power had purchased.* (PR)