Underground cabling begins in Bacolod’s tourism strip
BACOLOD CITY—The Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC) has started its underground distribution system (UDS) project that will move electric and telecommunication cables below the ground of a key commercial district here.
Roel Castro, NEPC president and chief executive officer, said the project, that will cost P80 million, will target Lacson Street stretching from 5th Street to Bangga Ramos at BS Aquino Drive.
The area covered by underground cabling is popularly called as the city’s tourism strip where restaurants and hotels are located.
“It will be the first of 6 kilometers targeted by NEPC for underground cabling in Bacolod City,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Construction, he said, will last 10 months and is targeted to be completed in time for the MassKara Festival in October 2025.
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez called the groundbreaking of the 1-kilometer UDS project of the NEPC a “historic moment” in the move toward making Bacolod a super city.
“Underground cabling is aesthetically better than just removing spaghetti wires. It should be the norm in highly urbanized cities,” he said.
The target, he said, is for underground cabling in the whole city.
“Aside from it also being more reliable, it will also prevent cable theft,” Benitez said.
The mayor said he asked the council for an ordinance that will include a provision on the creation of a city government coordinating body that will monitor underground cabling projects.
Urban aesthetics
Bailey del Castillo, NEPC chief operations officer, said the UDS will improve safety and reliability, enhance urban aesthetics, reduce power outage risks and will ensure future-proofing against harsh weather.
It will also enhance tourism as trees along the stretch will no longer need to be trimmed.
The UDS, he said, will be done through horizontal directional drilling (HDD) from the start and end of the 1 km-stretch only so it will not obstruct traffic.
HDD is a trenchless excavation technique that uses a drilling rig to install underground utilities.
Telecommunication firms can either lease underground cabling space from NEPC or share in construction costs, Del Castillo said.
Councilor Claudio Jesus Puentevella has proposed a city ordinance setting the guidelines for the installation, maintenance and management for underground cabling systems in Bacolod that is up for approval by the council.
“The ordinance is necessary for long term planning and development,” he said.
Bacolod. Rep. Greg Gasataya and Acting Negros Occidental Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer, who were present at the groundbreaking rites on Nov. 13, also welcomed and thanked NEPC for its underground cabling project.
Meanwhile, Castro said that NEPC has allocated P260 million to enhance and fast tract its electrification program in sitios (subvillages) within its coverage area.
Of the 42 sitios surveyed, 15 are ready for line construction, he said.
Castro said NEPC also aims to move its high voltage power lines that are crisscrossing haciendas (sugarcane plantation) to areas along the road to make them more accessible for repairs and to prevent long power outages.
“It is a big challenge, especially during typhoons, to repair such lines that can only be reached by foot through muddy terrain,” Castro said.
