Extreme heat fries power lines, triggers brownouts in Bacolod

BACOLOD CITY—At least 27 brownouts hit various parts of this city on Sunday after the extreme heat brought on by the El Niño weather phenomenon burned electric wires and transformers of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco). Arnel Lapore, Ceneco general manager, said their transformers were also overloaded because there has been a huge increase in demand for power to cool down residences, business establishments, and government and private offices.

“The extreme heat is melting down our insulators and wires. It is causing transformers to burn,” he said.

The power outages ranging from 25 minutes to two hours, and even up to 18 hours in one area, affected the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Silay and Talisay, and the towns of Don Salvador Benedicto and Murcia, Lapore said.

According to Lapore, the rising temperatures now have never been experienced by Ceneco before.

“We experienced about 15 busted transformers, along with burnt wires and insulators,” he said, referring to what triggered Sunday’s brownouts.

Pending franchise bid

On Sunday, the heat index in Negros Occidental was recorded at 43 degrees Celsius.

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez on Monday appealed to the Senate to hasten the granting of a franchise to the privately run Negros Electric Power Corp. (NEPC) to take over the areas serviced by Ceneco so that the recurring problem of multiple brownouts can be properly addressed.

House Bill No. 9805 seeks the granting of a franchise to NEPC, a joint venture between Primelectric and Ceneco, to take over the power distribution services of the power cooperative.

“I am appealing to the Senate to pass it so that we can have better equipment and facilities in our electric distribution system,” Benitez said.

Part of the solution to reducing the brownouts hitting Bacolod is to upgrade its aging facilities and wires to more heat resistant ones, the mayor pointed out.

“The way to move forward is to modernize or to come up with brand-new or newer facilities and equipment at Ceneco,” he said.

Benitez said this was the reason why he pushed for the joint venture agreement (JVA) between Primelectric and Ceneco that anticipates the need for a huge capital expenditure to address the power distribution problems of Ceneco.

The JVA that will allow NEPC to take over the power distribution services of Ceneco will mean the infusion of P2 billion for its modernization, he said.

The NEPC franchise bid is currently pending before the Senate committee on public services chaired by Sen. Grace Poe. INQ