BACOLOD CITY – At least 47,000 households or 22 percent of the 224,000 consumers served by the Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC/Negros Power) have been affected by the widespread unscheduled power interruption here since Wednesday night, August 21.

AN employee of the Negros Electric and Power Corp.  (NEPC) inspects the Alijis substation following a massive power outage in Bacolod City on Wednesday night, August 21. (Photo courtesy of Negros Power Facebook) 

NEPC, in its advisory, said that the 13-year-old 30/37 MVA power transformer in Alijis substation failed due to overloading and age of the equipment.

The power outage was reported at around 8 p.m. and affected seven feeders which are connected to the  substation. 

Negros Power chief operations officer Bailey del Castillo reported that based on their assessment, gas leaks triggered the shutdown of the Alijis substation and repair of the equipment will take a while.

To provide immediate remedy, the power firm decided to connect the feeder lines of the Alijis substation to nearby feeders of other substations to source out power supply of at least 32 megawatts.

The power firm is closely monitoring the feeders to prevent overloading and enable them to implement manual load dropping if necessary to avoid longer power outage.

NEPC said that they saw a need to replace the old transformer but the process will take up to two weeks and rotational brownouts will be implemented. 

Affected residents aired their frustration over the prolonged outage on social media and urged NEPC to act on the matter.

Despite the temporary remedy, some areas in this city are still experiencing power outage.

The NEPC apologized to affected consumers for the inconvenience and assured them that they are working to stabilize the power supply.

The Alijis substation and other substations, as well as facilities of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), are set for rehabilitation and modernization, once NEPC starts its fill operation next month. 

NEPC advised consumers to send their queries to the official Facebook page of Negros Power or call their trunk and hotlines for any power-related concerns.

Due to the surge of calls, the hotlines suffer bottlenecks, but they assured that they are open to queries and give updates.

NEPC is a joint venture company between Primelectric Holdings Inc. (PHI) and Ceneco. It was established to improve power distribution and customer service to its member consumers.

On July 26, 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. granted NEPC a 25-year franchise through Republic Act No. 12011 that seeks to establish, operate, and maintain an electric distribution system to the end users in central Negros and ensure continuous and uninterrupted power supply.