For a Hermitian matrix $A$ of order $n$ with eigenvalues $λ_1(A)\ge \cdots\ge λ_n(A)$, define \[ \mathcal{E}_p^+(A)=\sum_{λ_i > 0} λ_i^p(A), \quad \mathcal{E}_p^-(A)=\sum_{λ_i<0} |λ_i(A)|^p,\] to be the positive and the negative $p$-energy of $A$, respectively. In this note, first we show that if $A=[A_{ij}]_{i,j=1}^k$, where $A_{ii}$ are square matrices, then \[ \mathcal{E}_p^+(A)\geq \sum_{i=1}^{k} \mathcal{E}_p^+(A_{ii}), \quad \mathcal{E}_p^-(A)\geq \sum_{i=1}^{k} \mathcal{E}_p^-(A_{ii}),\] for any real number $p\geq 1$. We then apply the previous inequality to establish lower bounds for $p$-energy of the adjacency matrix of graphs.