The energization of the of the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP)Backbone Project will stabilize the power supply in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said Monday, April 8.
The ceremonial energization of the CNP Backbone Project was led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. along with Benitez, Bacolod City Representative Greg Gasataya, the members of the City Council, and officials of Barangay Mansilingan at the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) Bacolod Substation in the said village Monday morning.
“We can get already some power coming from other areas since one of our problems is the overloaded NGCP’s lines and we cannot bring in more power. With this inauguration, definitely, we can source it from Mindanao or Luzon and other power generators,” Benitez said.
He said that this will also lessen the occurrence of brownouts in Bacolod City.
Meanwhile, Benitez said he is hopeful that the Senate will approve the franchise of Negros Electric Power Corp. (NEPC).
This, after the House of Representatives earlier approved House Bill No. 9805, an act granting NEPC a franchise to establish, operate, and maintain for commercial purposes and in the public interest, a distribution system for the conveyance of electric power to the end-users in the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay, Silay, and municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto and ensuring continuous and uninterrupted supply of electricity in the franchise area.
Benitez said that he saw it in the news that Senator Grace Poe accelerating the approval process.
“As soon as the franchise is approved, there is about P2 billion modernization program that will be initiated by the franchisee or More Power,” he said.*