PREVIOUSLY, we had a sneak peek, a striptease of sorts. This time we’re going to see the “full monty” of what Mayor Jerry Treñas meant when he said “More from MORE.”
We start off with an ambitious program that even much larger and richer cities i.e. Manila or Quezon City don’t even talk about, much more initiate something like it.
We’re talking about the underground cabling project which is already set to go.
The underground cabling program includes all plaza complexes, Sunburst Park, Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Avenue, all heritage sites in the city, specifically Calle Real.
Under the undergrounding ordinance, the Task Force PUGI or the Public Utilities Group of Iloilo – composed of MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) as head and telecommunications companies such as Converge, Globe, Smart, PLDT, Skycable, Panay Broadband, and DITO as members – is taking the lead in the underground cabling project.
MORE Power, the city’s sole power distributor, is the first to kick-off the project in the bid also to improve its electricity distribution system. It started its preliminary activities at Calle Real like the conduct of ground survey. (Panay News 3/27/2023)
According to Mayor Treñas, the MORE Power’s undergrounding project is proof of their strong support to the progress and development of the city.
MORE Power principal owner, Enrique Razon Jr., personally discussed with Mayor Jerry the underground power distribution system project, including the plan of the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (which he also owns) to upgrade to international standards the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex in Loboc, Lapuz.
Meanwhile, MORE Power president and chief executive officer Roel Castro said they expect to complete their wire undergrounding activity in four months.
And there’s more; towards the end of the year, another new substation will rise along the Diversion Road or Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue in Mandurriao; and this will replace the old City Proper substation along General Luna Street.
Speaking of new power substations; MORE Power president and chief executive officer Roel Castro said the state-of-the-art power substation at Megaworld is capable of unmanned operation and could be controlled and operated offsite in the firm’s control center which is also currently under construction.
Take note, MORE Power’s 30/36MVA substation at the Iloilo Business Park (Megaworld) in Mandurriao district will also benefit neighboring barangays which can accommodate two 30-megawatt transformers.
Castro said: “All of these are geared towards having an electric service infrastructure that is very reliable, adequate, stable and should be competitively priced.”
Finally, according to Councilor Sedfrey Cabaluna, “Illegal connections, tapping, unauthorized load side connections, and substandard wirings lead to overloading and are the primary cause of fire incidents.”
In his privilege speech during the Sangguniang Panlungsod regular session, he called for cooperation to achieve “zero fire incident that is electrical in nature” by 2024.
According to data from the Bureau of Fire Protection and MORE Power 84 of the city’s 180 barangays are fire-prone,
These barangays have 66,835 households and of these, only 33,498 were energized by the city’s former power distributor while 18,661 were energized by MORE Power from 2020 to 2023.
The remaining 14,226 households have no legal power connections.
In that fire which destroyed the homes of 300 families in barangays West Habog-Habog and San Juan in Molo, of the 300, only 114 had legal power connections while 186 were without electric meters.
“We have the commitment of MORE Power, BFP, CDRRMO and OBO to provide all necessary assistance, including staggered payment terms as well as the provision of electrical engineers and licensed electricians to inspect barangays and households upon request,” said Cabaluna.
“If we can reduce these 14,226 who are still to be legally connected to our electric line before the end of the year, it is possible we can collectively achieve zero fire incidents that are electrical in nature by 2024,” he added.
Our power distribution system is moving up to 21st century standards. The least you can do is move up from your “squatter mentality”./PN
