Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said Monday, January 8, that the provincial government will formulate an Energy Roadmap with the help of the University of St. La Salle (USLS).
Part of the engagement is to hold an Energy Summit as well as a Renewable Energy Week and other activities, the governor said.
He also said that he and Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Benitez met over the weekend to discuss the planned Energy Summit.
However, he said no schedule has been set for the Energy Summit.
He said the purpose of the energy roadmap is "to secure enough power for now and the future."
"We are learning from what happened in Panay to make sure that it will not happen in Negros Occidental. The roadmap is a strategy on how to have power security in our province," Lacson pointed out.
Earlier, he said that Negros Occidental is inviting investors to put up renewable energy plants in the province.
"The province is pushing for renewable energy," he said.
Aside from the existing RE plants, an investor has expressed interest in putting up an offshore wind energy plant between Negros Island and Panay Island.
Lacson said that Negros has excess power.
In a separate press conference at the Government Center, Benitez said the province is producing 800 watts of power every day, of which 400 MW are used during peak hours, leaving an excess of 200 MW.
Biomass power has not yet entered the grid, while solar power, which is abundant in Negros, is "for peak load only," he said.
"We are exporting power as our baseload power," he said.
He agreed with the statement of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) for Negros to have its baseload power plant
"I don't know if there is renewable energy that can supply that baseload power," he said.*