By Francis Allan L. Angelo
To ensure an accurate meter reading for every consumer, MORE Power Iloilo invested in a state-of-the-art meter test bench.
According to Engr. Emil Joseph Cahuya, assistant manager of the metering department of MORE Power, the company bought a meter test bench.
This 5-position test bench has the capability of testing five power meters in 3 minutes, and a portable desktop meter test station can be brought to different sites during fieldwork.
“Isa naton ka advantage is tungod calibrated siya sang ERC, accurate siya and imported siya. Bangud sini, confident kita nga accurate ang metro nga gina deploy sa field kag fair ini sa MORE Power kag sa customer,” says Engr. Cahuya.
Whenever MORE purchases a new set of electric meters, the company’s metering department could check individually each meter if it is defective or it is not calibrated correctly.
“Benefits nya is makatesting kita sa mga meter halin sa field or meter nga bag-o gani matest natun ang iya accuracy. Bal-an naton kung ang meter nga na is fit gamiton or indi. Advantage sini sa operation kay testing position, dasig-dasig lang siya. So a matter of three minutes may testing na kita kag result sa lima ka metro,” added by Engr. Cahuya.
Through this, the company could ensure that each meter reading is accurate. Likewise, each consumer is guaranteed the accuracy of the reading of their actual electricity usage which is the basis of the bill that they get to receive.
METER LAB
Engr. Bailey del Castillo, Senior Assistant Vice President for Network Operations, confirmed that Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) already approved the meter laboratory of MORE Power and that the said new equipment was also certified accurate by the regulators.
“Now we are already a certified meter laboratory by the ERC. This means we are guaranteed that all of the equipment that we are using are in conformance with the standard set by the government. So this meter test bench and including the portable meters are certified by our regulators”, del Castillo said.
He also clarified that the meter laboratory is being operated by a licensed engineer and trained laboratory technicians.
“We have a licensed engineer and trained meter laboratory technicians. That is technically competent to do the testing. So that’s part of the requirements. Our engineers are well-trained before these instruments are deployed to their function,” Engr. del Castillo added.
“We are not just testing these meters; we are also doing rehabilitation now and replacement. So the volume of our meter installations right now is high. That’s why we need these types of very efficient test equipment so that we can catch up with the daily volume.”
MORE Power has around 87,000 consumers and replaced more than 30,000 damaged and inaccurate electric meters when it took over as the distribution utility of Iloilo City last 2020.
“This is really in line with our goal, to continuously upgrade our system and improve our equipment like this meter test bench to further provide quality service to our consumers. We are committed to delivering better service to all our customers and that is why we are doing all we can to improve in all aspects,” del Castillo emphasized.
MORE Power said aims to modernize its facilities in Iloilo City within five years to bring the most cost-efficient service to all its consumers.
