BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The proposed joint venture agreement (JVA) between Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) and Ignite Power is seen to improve power distribution and supply services, and make these reliable.
This partnership is the best option, according to Roel Castro, president and chief executive officer of MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power), sister company of Ignite Power and the sole power distributor in Iloilo City.
CENECO has long been needled by consumers in its service areas – Bacolod City, Bago City, Talisay City, Silay City, and the Negros Occidental municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto – due to poor and unreliable power distribution and supply.
Castro said the JVA is the best course of action for CENECO power consumers seeking improvement.
“In Iloilo before we came in, I made a commitment to invest in capital expenditures,” Castro said, to secure good facilities and good people to deliver better service.
Now, Iloilo City residents enjoy a more reliable electricity supply, thanks to the state-of-the-art equipment and technologies that MORE Power has introduced. Power interruptions have been dramatically minimized and consumers are enjoying affordable electricity rates.
Castro played down those skeptical of the proposed partnership.
“If you are having two to three brownouts a day, happy with nobody answering your concerns, happy that if you are disconnected you get reconnected within three to four days, so be it,” Castro said.
He recently gave a briefing to Negros Occidental governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer regarding the proposed CENECO – Ignite Power JVA.
“Personally, I believe in the management of MORE Power,” said Lacson, citing MORE Power’s good track record in Iloilo City.
Ferrer, too, expressed support to the JVA, saying it is advantageous to consumers.
Ceneco has more than 214,000 member-consumers in its franchise area./PN
