By Limuel S. Celebria
About two years ago last week, representatives of More Electric and Power Company (MORE POWER) faced the Iloilo City Council to explain its bid to take over the franchise of Panay Electric Company (PECO). Then (and until now) certain quarters view More Power – a company owned and controlled by shipping, mining, and gambling magnate Enrique Razon Jr., – as a pirate and carpetbagger out to displace PECO, a company that virtually grew alongside Iloilo City.
In his presentation before the city fathers in November 2018, More POWER President Roel Castro promised that the new company will be what the old one wasn’t. “More efficient, more reliable, more friendly with less charges, less power interruptions, less complaints.”
Let us revisit part of a column I wrote back then: “Mr. Castro said that the moment MORE begins operations the city’s power consumers would immediately enjoy a drop in power rates, especially in the distribution charge, as the company would be sourcing power supply from other power generators as well as the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) where power prices are much lower. MORE claims the current distributor, Panay Electric Company Inc. (PECO), charges rates as much P2.50 higher than the industry average because its supply is tied up to only two power generators — PEDC and Panay Power Corp.
“MORE also guarantees efficiency and reliability as it vowed to undertake system upgrades in the service area backed by P700 million in projected capital expenditures over the next three years of operations. This would result in a drastic lowering of systems loss resulting to further reduction in rates, Mr. Castro further said. “
Since then, Congress has issued a franchise to More Power while giving Peco’s dream of a renewal of the Mona Lisa treatment (“they just lie there… and they die there). The Energy Regulatory Commission has also granted More Power the requisite Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, and the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of More Power’s “eminent domain” muscle as delegated in one of the provisions of its congressional franchise.
With MORE totally in the saddle, how has it performed vis-à-vis its avowals? In the words of today’s generation, has reality met expectations?
Power Sourcing: Like its predecessor, More continues to draw power from the coal and diesel plants of PEDC and Panay power. However, in the total mix, this accounts for only 65 to 70 percent. As promised, More Power is taking advantage of electric price dips in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market as well as tapping from other suppliers in the grid. This has resulted in a dip in power rates as well.
System Upgrades: More has already completed rehabilitating the substations in the different districts of the city, many of which have not seen any serious maintenance works in at least the past decade. Recently, it put up a 10 MVA 10 near the bustling Iloilo Business Park in Megaworld. The facility will be dedicated to coping with the expected increase in power demand at the Megaworld business district as more infrastructures rise and commercial activities intensify.
Two years ago, Castro said the new company expects to throw in some P700 in capital expenditures over the next three years. Soon after taking over, however, realizing the extent of the systems disrepair, More Power has revised its estimates upward to P1.9 billion.
Describing the move as a “stream of capacity expansion” Razon Jr. said MORE Power will put up another 30 MVA mobile substation, a new 50 MVA substation at another end of Iloilo Business Park, and new substations in Arevalo District and Diversion area as well as the expansion of the City Proper and Jaro substations over the next five years.
Lower Rates: It is not difficult for More Power to deliver on this promise. Its predecessor has been labelled as charging “the highest power rates in the world.” Only a fool could not improve on this. By reducing dependency on a single power provider, tapping the spot marking and other power suppliers, and improving system efficiency, More Power has managed to substantially lower power rates. While Peco rates range from 10 t0 12 pesos per kilowatt-hour (KWH), More Power’s rate hovers at P9 to P11 per kWh.
Power Theft. What was not foreseen by More Power was the extent of power pilferage in the city. When it took over, it was surprised to learn that there are an estimated 30,000 illegal power connections all over the city, most of them facilitated by syndicates which often include barangay officials. Thus, it had to undertake a very serious effort at weeding out power thieves. It is quite a struggle but More Power’s war on electric pilferage appears to be gaining traction as more and more members of the community at large are lending their cooperation in identifying illegal connections. The carrot and stick approach – offering rewards to whistleblowers and filing cases against those that have been caught – seems to be working well.
The Intangibles. Aside from its prohibitive rates and confiscatory penalties imposed on consumers, PECO was repudiated by its long-suffering patrons for being indifferent if not outright arrogant. More Power presents a breath of fresh air. More Power is quick to respond to complaints in real-time with trouble-shooters stationed in strategic locations all over the city. It is even quicker to identify trouble spots with powerful computers monitoring the system 24/7. It has gradually removed distribution post stranded by road widening and untangled if not removed spaghetti wirings in coordination with the city government.
As well, More Power officials like Pres. Castro, Lawyer Allana Babayen-on, Operations chief Aye Castaneda, and PR guy Jonathan Castaneda are very accommodating, providing the necessary link to the community they serve.
Less Complaints. More Power will continue to have its nasty nay-sayers (some friends come to mind. hehe) as the unavoidable kinks in the system erupt. But, it comes as no surprise that there are also those who come to More’s defense and even applaud its efforts. All in all, I think More Power is giving to its Iloilo City consumers what PECO – in its final years – could not: more service, less hassle.
