Marcos approves franchise for P2-billion power investment in Negros Occidental
BACOLOD, Philippines – Billionaire Enrique Razon‘s group announced it would push through with a P2-billion investment to improve power distribution in central Negros Occidental after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed a law which gave the Negros Electric and Power Corporation (Negros Power) a franchise.
The announcement came on Tuesday night, July 30, four days after Marcos signed Republic Act No. 12011, granting a 25-year franchise for Negros Power to operate an advanced power distribution network in Bacolod and five other localities in Negros Occidental.
“It’s time to walk the talk,” said Roel Castro, president and chief executive officer of Negros Power, as he announced the P2-billion investment to rehabilitate, upgrade, and modernize the lines and facilities of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco).
Castro said they would implement a five-year rehabilitation plan to improve the system and reduce incidents of unscheduled power outages.
The first priority, he said, is to reduce Ceneco’s system losses by upgrading all facilities and ending widespread electricity theft.
Castro said around 6,000 power consumers in Bacolod and central Negros are considered “power thieves” after being discovered to be sourcing their power through illegal tapping. They have been identified through a comprehensive metering survey, and they have been given a chance to apply for a legitimate power connection within a month.
With this, Castro said they were confident that the system losses within Ceneco’s franchise area would soon be reduced to a manageable level.
“It’s good to go,” Arnel Lapore, general manager of Ceneco, told Rappler on Wednesday, July 31.
He said Negros Power will play an important role in meeting the power load growth in Bacolod and some parts of Ngros Occidental.
Lapore said there has been a notable increase in the number of industries within Ceneco’s franchise area, resulting in an increased power demand that Ceneco’s resources could not longer meet on its own.
“We’re glad that the Razon Group of Companies partnered with Ceneco via a joint venture agreement to address this pressing issue of the spiraling demand for power in Bacolod and central Negros Occidental,” said Lapore.
Negros Power is a sister company of More Electric and Power Corporation (More Power), which distributes electricity in Iloilo City. More Power is notable for its state-of-the-art facilities and the lowest power rates in the whole of Western Visayas for five years already.
Negros Power, a joint venture between Razon’s Primelectric Holdings Incorporated (PHI) and Ceneco, was established after a plebiscite from June to August 2023. It is expected to upgrade power distribution services for more than 200,000 consumers in Bacolod, Bago, Silay, and Talisay cities, and the towns of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto.
The 49-year-old Ceneco, one of the 121 electric cooperatives in the country, has been sharply criticized due to its poor services and frequent power outages in recent years.
Ceneco’s financial losses prompted the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to usher Ceneco into an agreement with the Razon group to save it from collapsing.
Based on their 25-year agreement, Negros Power will hold a 70% control over the power distribution business, with Ceneco retaining the remaining 30%.
Castro said Negros Power would secure a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). Pending this, Lapore said a smooth transition between Ceneco and Negros Power would take effect immediately, starting with the absorption of the 200 regular Ceneco workers by the new company. – Rappler.com