AFTER ALL that’s been said and done, “I Am Iloilo City’s” sole power distribution utility, MORE Power, still maintains the lowest electricity rate in Western Visayas.
Despite an increase in its electricity rates for the May 2024 billing (a P1.02/kWh hike), MORE Power continues to offer the lowest electricity rates in Western Visayas.
The effective residential electricity rate for MORE Power, reflected on its consumers’ bills from May 18, 2024, to June 12, 2024, is P11.3263/kWh.
Take note that with the latest spike in power rates, the rest of the power distribution utilities in the region hover from P11.7947/kWh to P14.6309/kWh averaging P13+/kWh.
These increases come amidst a tight supply situation, prompted by the “red” and “yellow” alerts declared by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in Luzon and Visayas over the past two months.
So how did MORE Power manage to keep its rates relatively low?
Niel V. Parcon, Vice President for Corporate Energy Sourcing and Regulatory Affairs (CESRA), explained that MORE Power has managed to maintain competitive rates due to its bilateral contracts with power generators. This strategy has limited its exposure to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), where prices increased from P8.67/kWh to P11.85/kWh.
“In anticipation of the increase in demand for the summer, we have secured bilateral contracts of 66%. Thus, our exposure to WESM is only 34%. In fact, our energy purchases for this billing cycle have increased by 19%,” Parcon explained, emphasizing the importance of the bilateral agreements with the power generators.
Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, of course, praised this development as a significant boost for the city, anticipating an increase in investments and business activities that will bolster Iloilo City’s economy.
“This is also a very welcome development for every Ilonggo household, which will no longer have to worry about high electric bills,” the mayor gushed.
It seems the rainy days are finally here and in anticipation of this, MORE Power is on its final phase of cleaning operation to adequately prepare its 69-kilovolt lines for the rainy season, the accumulation of dirt on power lines can lead to sparks and outages when it rains.
According to, Engr. Bernard Bailey Del Castillo, MORE Power VP of the Network Development and Operations Group, phases 1 and 2, conducted on March 27, 2024 and April 21, 2024, respectively, marked the initial stages of their efforts, with the May 26 as the final phase.
Although the shutdown of the two 69-kV lines meant over 80% of the franchise area would be affected by the May 26, 11-hour scheduled power interruption since the lines are interconnected, MORE Power will facilitate load transfer, reducing the impact to only 53% of its consumers.
“The primary objective of initiating the final phase of our cleaning operation is to adequately prepare for the imminent rainy season. The accumulation of dirt on our power lines poses significant challenges, as it can lead to sparks and outages when it rains. Heavy rainfall is required to effectively wash away the accumulated dirt,” explained Del Castillo.
Phases 1 and 2 of the scope of works only covered a portion of 69-kV lines 2 and 5. The lines at the Baldoza junction in La Paz district were not addressed yet due to safety concerns, as both 69-kV lines must be shut off to ensure the safety of personnel working in proximity to live lines overhead.
“We cannot simultaneously interrupt all 69-kV lines due to the expansive working area; hence, we are conducting the process in multiple phases. In addition to facility washing, during the first two phases, we also replaced hundreds of post insulators,” Del Castillo added.
As usual during that May 26 11-hour scheduled power interruption to alleviate the inconvenience caused by the power interruption, MORE Power continued its initiatives of providing free cold water and mobile charging to affected areas.
All in a day’s work for our friendly neighborhood power distribution utility, an indispensable partner in “I Am Iloilo City’s” development./PN
