MORE Power modernization program kicks off in Iloilo City
By Lenie Lectura -April 8, 2020
from Business Mirror
MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) has commenced a program that aims to modernize Iloilo City’s power distribution system.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said it will monitor the progress of the P1.8-billion modernization program.
“We are hopeful but we have to see the improvements for its franchise area,” said Energy Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella.
Prior to MORE Power, Iloilo City’s electricity distribution service was under Panay Electric Co. (Peco).
Included in the modernization program are the installation of new electric meters, replacement of electric poles, transformers, conductors and improvement in substation facilities.
MORE Power President and Chief Operating Officer Roel Z. Castro said modernization program aims to cut systems losses, among others, “in order to provide Iloilo a more reliable, safer and cheaper electricity supply than they got from the previous utility.”
System loss refers to the amount of electricity lost in the inefficient distribution because of faulty lines and equipment or from pilferage.
At the end of 2019, Peco recorded a system loss of 9.03 percent. The figure exceeds the 6.5-percent cap set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
DOE Director Mario Marasigan said the agency will conduct a validation work on MORE Power’s modernization program as soon as the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is lifted.
Castro also assured Iloilo City Mayor Geronimo Treñas and the city’s residents that MORE Power will work on providing a reliable, safe and cheap supply of electricity.
“Ilonggos deserve the best from us. Nothing more, nothing less.”
MORE Power formally started managing the city’s power distribution utility with the issuance by the Iloilo City Regional Trial Court of a writ of possession in line with the expropriation case it filed against Peco.
After an inspection of its operation and the state of the city’s distribution system, the ERC issued MORE Power its Provisional Authority and revoked the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity issued to Peco.
