BACOLOD CITY – Negros Occidental Gov. Isidro Zayco on Thursday asked the National Power Corp. to deploy 15 one-megawatt generators to address the shortage of power that the province experiences during peak hours.

In a letter sent on Thursday, Zayco asked Napocor president Cyril del Callar to send generators to Negros Occidental to meet the province’s power requirement.

Zayco made the appeal upon the request of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) officials who met with him on Thursday to explain the power situation.

Ceneco general manager Sulpicio Legarde Jr. said the province has been experiencing a daily 25-megawatt power shortage during peak hours, from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., when Napocor could not supply the power requirement.

Legarde said Napocor would need modular generators to help prevent brownouts.

The VMC Rural Electric Service Cooperative and the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative have a combined peak hour shortage of 14 megawatts.

Ceneco has scheduled rotating brownouts in its coverage area every day at 15 minutes per feeder, Legarde said.

The Napocor had promised to send 15 diesel-powered one-megawatt generators to Bacolod City to address the shortage, he said.

However, the Napocor has yet to follow through with its promise so Ceneco has sought the help of the governor to lobby for the generators, Legarde explained.

He said the Napocor had offered the generators as a stopgap measure until the big generation plants, such as the Energy Development Corp.’s 49-megawatt plant in Bago City, starts operating.