BACOLOD City — The Bacolod City government is seeking a comprehensive power security plan to address recurring electricity interruptions and ensure a more reliable supply for households, businesses and essential services.
Councilor Caesar Z. Distrito said the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) recently unanimously approved his proposed resolution urging national energy agencies and industry stakeholders to adopt coordinated short-, medium- and long-term measures to address vulnerabilities in the Visayas Grid, particularly those affecting Negros Island and Bacolod City.
The resolution calls on the Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP), Board of Investments (BOI), and other concerned agencies to implement an energy security action plan.
Among the proposed measures are the immediate restoration of generating units under forced or prolonged outages, improved coordination of scheduled maintenance, adequate power reserves and the accelerated completion of critical transmission infrastructure.
The measure also seeks additional dependable generating capacity in Negros and other strategic areas, as well as the strategic installation of battery energy storage systems.
It promotes the development of solar, geothermal, biomass and other renewable energy projects, including those integrated with energy storage, to improve grid reliability while supporting the transition to cleaner energy.
The resolution emphasizes that increased power generation must be matched by sufficient transmission capacity to ensure reliable electricity delivery to, from and within Negros Island.
It also calls for stronger grid interconnections and redundancy, streamlined investment processes for strategic power projects, emergency measures during periods of critically tight supply and improved communication during grid alerts.
Another provision urges authorities to ensure the timely public disclosure of grid conditions, unavailable generating capacity, power reserves and the status of major energy projects.
Distrito said recurring red and yellow alerts, along with rotational brownouts, highlight the need for a long-term strategy rather than temporary responses whenever electricity supply becomes critically tight.
“Every power interruption affects not only our households but also our hospitals, schools, businesses, BPO companies, water systems, telecommunications facilities, government offices and other essential services,” Distrito said.
“We need a coordinated, measurable and long-term strategy that addresses the structural causes of unreliable power supply,” he added.
The resolution also urges the DOE and NGCP to provide the Bacolod city government and SP with updates on major generation, energy storage and transmission projects planned or proposed for Negros Island and the Visayas, including their current status and target completion or commercial operation dates.
Meanwhile, the DOE, BOI and other investment promotion agencies are being urged to promote Negros Island as a strategic location for renewable energy, battery storage, dependable generation and other power infrastructure investments.
At the local level, the resolution encourages the Bacolod city government to facilitate investments in renewable energy, battery storage and distributed energy systems to strengthen the city’s energy resilience.
Distrito stressed that a stable and reasonably priced electricity supply is essential to Bacolod’s continued development as a center for commerce, business process outsourcing, information technology, education, health care, tourism and government services./PN
