ILOILO City – The Iloilo Economic Development Foundation, Inc. (ILED) commissioned a foreign power consulting firm to study the electricity distribution services of Panay Electric Company (PECO).
Singapore-based WSP shall come up with a technical assessment, said the ILED, a nonprofit, private sector-led organization.
Results of the study will be shared with concerned stakeholders and the House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Franchises, the ILED said.
Starting Tuesday, the WSP’s technical support team will check PECO’s facilities, among others, the local group added.
According to ILED, the results of the study may help the House committee decide whether or not to renew the franchise of the sole power distribution utility in this city.
The WSP is “one of the world’s leading professional services firms … providing integrated solutions across many disciplines,” its website said.
Its expertise “ranges from environmental remediation to urban planning, from engineering iconic buildings to designing sustainable transport networks, and from developing the energy sources of the future to enabling new ways of extracting essential resources.”
PECO’s franchise is expiring in 2019. It seeks to renew it for 25 more years.
More than 25,000 city residents signed a petition opposing PECO’s franchise application.
Complaining of overbilling and poor customer service, the petitioners demanded that the government take over the power distribution service until a better player comes in./PN
