BY PRINCE GOLEZ and GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
MANILA – There is no “viable” and “practical” alternatives to Panay Electric Company (PECO) so the city of Iloilo might as well continue having it as its sole power distribution utility, according to Mayor Jose Espinosa III.
At yesterday’s hearing on PECO’s application for franchise renewal at the Batasang Pambansa, Espinosa told the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, “As long as PECO can address the problems…and provide stable power supply, I am okay with their application.”
Over 25,000 Iloilo City residents who signed a petition opposing PECO’s franchise application complained of overbilling and poor customer service. They demanded that the government take over the power distribution service until a better player comes in.
“What is the position of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)? If we will not approve this, (PECO) will cease operation. Who will take over? I don’t think the national government will take over immediately,” said Bohol’s Cong. Rene Relampagos, a member of the committee.
The legal counsel of ERC, Krisha Buela, said the government could not immediately take over PECO’s operation and should there be a power distribution utility interested to come in, a couple of years may not be enough for it to get a hang of the operation.
“Assuming we don’t approve the franchise because may opposition ang mga tao sa Iloilo, what will happen? Saan kukuha ng kuryente,” Relampagos pressed further.
According to Buela, electricity supply won’t be problem but the distribution would be a concern.
“Ang mahihirapan nito ang mga consumers,” said Relampagos, and turning to PECO, he said, “You improve your service because that is the complaint eh.”
PECO’s franchise is expiring in 2019. It seeks to renew it for 25 more years
“We have one year to go pa before mag-expire ang daan naton nga franchise. PECO assures that we will do something about the problems nga ginpang-raise. We have programs to address these,” PECO vice president Randy Pastolero told Panay News after the hearing.
Mayor Espinosa expressed concern that the nonrenewal of PECO’s franchise could destabilize the power supply and disrupt the city’s progress.
The reliability of power supply is one of the things prospective investors are looking for in a place, he said.
Buela said the national government taking over a private power distribution utility has no precedent yet in the country.
“That is a thought for us, everyone, all stakeholders. Ano ang gagawin natin kung hindi natin aaprobahan ang (PECO) franchise? Are we ready to help out for at least one year with no distribution utility in Iloilo,” said Relampagos.
The House Committee on Legislative Franchises decided to hold another hearing on PECO’s application but did not set the date. It was asking for more pertinent documents.
A confident Pastolero told Panay News, “We believe we have done our part. We are happy kay napamatian kami.”
PECO is performing better vis-à-vis the standards set by ERC, Pastolero told the committee, most especially in the area of power outages.
“For instance, ang number of interruptions – frequency index, ang ila nga standard ara sa 20 units. Ang performance sang PECO is lower than that – 16, way better than the standard,” said Pastolero.
In terms of system average interruption duration index, “in terms of number of hours, ang ila standard is 40 while ang aton ara lang sa 19,” he added.
On Tuesday at the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Iloilo City, Pastolero told city councilors that in the coming years PECO would be improving the capacity of its power substations, construct a new building to accommodate more customers, institute an online feedback mechanism, and install elevated metering centers in areas of high power pilferage to prevent theft and outages due to theft./PN
