BACOLOD CITY – The Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC/Negros Power) will start an P80-million, one-kilometer underground distribution system project on Lacson St. here by January.
MAYOR Albee Benitez (left), Roel Castro (center), president of Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC), and NEPC chief operations officer Bailey del Castillo lead the groundbreaking of the P80-million underground distribution system project at the Provincial Capitol Park and Lagoon in Bacolod City on Wednesday, Nov. 13. (Photo courtesy of NEPC)
Roel Castro, NEPC president, and city officials headed by Mayor Albee Benitez led the groundbreaking of the project at the Provincial Capitol Park and Lagoon on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
Castro said that the NEPC will start to cover one-kilometer out of the six-kilometer stretch on Lacson St., particularly from the corner of Capitol Road to the corner of B.S. Aquino Drive.
Lacson St. was chosen as it is considered a major thoroughfare and an economic hub here.
“This is part of our commitment to extend services in central Negros,” Castro said, adding that this project aligns with sustainable development goals.
Apart from its aesthetic sense, Castro stressed that this project focuses more on safety and reliability, as underground cables will be less prone to foreign objects and weather changes.
Castro said that they initially allocated P80 million for the project but will try to optimize the approach along the way.
He said that the project is expected to be completed before the MassKara Festival next year.
As much as the NEPC would like to cover the project’s whole franchise area, Castro noted that the cost would be 10 times higher.
Benitez backed the project and said a city ordinance that will bring all the wires underground is now on second reading.
He thanked NEPC for responding to the call of the city government to shift to an underground cabling system.
“This really makes sense, as this should have been done before, especially in highly-urbanized cities,” Benitez said, adding that the project is more economical, aesthetically better, and beneficial. “It should be the norm of highly-urbanized cities.”
This city has been removing tangled cable wires (damaged and unused) on the city’s busiest thoroughfares. But Benitez said that tangled wires remain as an eyesore despite their effort to clear it through the Spaghetti Wires Task Force.
Benitez said that the city government is partnering with NEPC to ensure the success of the project.
He said that he will sit down with NEPC to discuss the support that may be extended by the city to the power firm.
Benitez added that he will also talk to telecommunications and cable firms to discuss the city’s plan to use underground cabling.