ILOILO City – The undergrounding of electric and cable wires in identified areas here will cost around P150.7 million.
According to Engineer Bailey Del Castillo, deputy head of Network Operations of MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power), of the total project cost, P54 million is the estimated cost for the underground trench of telecommunication companies while P96 million is for the electrical facilities of MORE Power.
Task Force PUGI (Public Utility Group of Iloilo) composed of MORE Power and telcos such as Converge, Globe, Smart, PLDT, Skycable, Panay Broadband, DITO and the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) Committee on Transportation Public Utilities chaired by Councilor Romel Duron recently had a meeting about the project.
“The cost pwede hatiin nila lahat. There was also a suggestion that MORE Power na lang lahat mag-finance then they will rent na lang on the trench that we will allocate to them,” said Del Castillo.
Aside from the funding, the design for the undergrounding project was also discussed in the meeting.
The undergrounding work, which will run about 1.6 kilometers, will start from the corner of Burgos Street at Plaza Libertad all the way to the entire stretch of Calle Real (JM Basa Street) up to Arroyo Street in the City Proper.
Del Castillo said they are considering the design to be hybrid underground distribution system over full underground distribution system because the former would be less costly or around 54 percent less expensive compared to the full underground.
Full underground means all other facilities like transformers and high voltage lines will also be buried underground. In hybrid underground, they will just hide them at the lateral roads.
“We will separate the telco trench and electric trench of MORE Power because it is not safe to mix the telcos and the electric wires,” Del Castillo added.
Del Castillo further explained that they still need to apply and get the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). They are hopeful this will be done within this year so they can start the bidding process.
Their initial timeline for the start of undergrounding works will be early next year.
Del Castillo confirmed that the cost of the project will be passed on to the consumers but he emphasized that this will just be a small amount that could be barely felt in the their bill.
Based on their initial calculation, it will just be around .025 centavos.
Aside from Calle Real, other areas for undergrounding are the Sunburst Park to Freedom Granstand and the four public plazas in Jaro, Molo, Mandurriao, and La Paz plazas./PN
