BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
INDEED, more means less when we are talking about the electricity rates of MORE Electric and Power Corporation a.k.a. MORE Power, “I Am Iloilo City’s” sole power distribution utility. Electricity rates have been relatively low if not the lowest in the region and the entire country.
It all started with P6.38 per kWh, arguably the lowest electricity rate in the entire archipelago and it happened in “I Am Iloilo City” under the watch of MORE Power. That rate stayed on for almost a year, giving the natives of “I Am Iloilo City” not only a much welcome respite from the soaring commodities but also a windfall in savings for the rainy days ahead.
Of course, much as MORE Power and the consumers of Iloilo City wanted it to stay that way but we were overtaken by volatile events in geo-politics and energy rates are always the first to be affected.
From a low of P6.38 per kWh, it started to spike with MORE Power doing everything humanely possible to keep it just below P10/kWh. They managed to keep the barbarians at the gates until other factors stepped it and the increase in rate was inevitable.
Despite the current increases in electricity rates MORE Power has managed to keep it at a reasonable figure.
Meanwhile, mainly because of its efficient power procurement practices, Iloilo City’s MORE Power continues to offer the lowest electricity rate in Panay and Guimaras islands.
MORE Power’s residential rate for September is only P12.61/kWh, a decrease of P0.04/kWh compared to the previous month.
MORE Power also has the lowest Generation Charge for that month, reaching only P6.76/kWh.
The electricity rates in Panay and Guimaras range from a high of P15.9389/kWh as in the case of ILECO 2 to the lowest of P12.6195/kWh of MORE Power.
The increase in their total residential rates is due to the rise in Generation and Transmission charges, which are passed on to consumers.
Although there are no changes in the Distribution Charge, which is allocated to the electric distribution utilities.
Moving on, MORE Power, “I Am Iloilo City’s sole power distributor, is anticipating a lower residential rate next month.
According to MORE Power president / chief executive officer Roel Castro, they are seeing a reduction of P1 to P1.50 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in their rate for October.
Take note, that last August, the electricity rate in the city was at P12.67 kWh, one of the lowest rates not only in the Western Visayas region but also in the whole country.
“There was an aberration because of the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) order for power distribution utilities to stagger the collection Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) charges over a four-month period starting from June until September, but if we normalize, we are still one of the lowest. We really work 24/7 to look for cheaper sources that we can blend,” Castro said.
Castro further added that they are looking for a more stable strategy to offer the cheapest rate: “It is not just monthly. We can say, let’s see in the next two years, we will be the cheapest.”
Just another day in your friendly neighborhood power distribution utility, the epitome and role model of Corporate Social Responsibility and the only one with bragging rights that they had the lowest electricity rate in the whole archipelago and work 24/7 looking for the cheapest power source that they can blend for the benefit of the natives of “I Am Iloilo City”.
As usual well played, indeed, Nong Moroy./PN
