ILOILO City – MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) encourages those with illegal electricity connections to do the right thing.
Its “More Konek” program will reach out to informal settlers, among others, down to the barangays to have their connections legalized, said MORE Power president Roel Castro yesterday.
Believing that tedious requirements for electricity connection were primarily the reasons for power pilfering, MORE Power has trimmed down the application requisites.
According to Castro, applicants would only be required to present the accomplished application form, government-issued identification card, barangay certificate of residency, permit for temporary service connection with electrical plan and vicinity, and oath undertaking for informal settlers.
MORE Power is the new electricity distributor in this city. Castro said through the “More Konek” program, they hope to cover all 180 barangays in one month.
MORE Power had a soft launching of its Corporate Brand Identity and Consumer-Driven Initiatives yesterday.
Side by side with its “More Konek” program is its “More Korek” campaign geared at replacing defective and obsolete electric meters, among others.
Castro said the upgrade would significantly improve the reliability of the electrical framework in this city.
MORE Power targets to get rid, too, unsightly crowded electric meters with unsafe clearance from the ground, dilapidated and “bowing” meters, loosely connected meters, and spaghetti wires.
A mapping of 63,000 electric meters here discovered between 2,000 to 13,000 defective, old electric or non-functioning, revealed Castro.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed on Feb. 14, 2019 Republic Act (RA) 11212, granting MORE Power the franchise to “establish, operate, and maintain, for commercial purposes and in the public interest, a distribution system for the conveyance of electric power to end users in Iloilo City.”
The franchise of the previous power distributor, Panay Electric Co. (PECO), expired on Jan. 18, 2019. But it was still allowed to distribute power in the metro, under RA 11212, until such time MORE Power is ready with a distribution system of its own.
In line with this, PECO was granted a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN).
PECO’s CPCN, however, will expire on May 25.
MORE Power has also applied for a CPCN – a working permit or operating license required of power distributors.
“We want to hit the ground running on Day 1,” said Castro.
The mapping of electric meters was one of MORE Power’s ground preparations.
“When our CPCN is granted, we will have to takeover. We will already operate power substations, start installing electric meters (for new applicants/informal settlers),” said Castro.
During a visit here on May 18, Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said the Department of Energy (DOE) would take over the power distribution system in this city if necessary.
But he stressed this would only be the “last resort” should MORE Power and PECO fail to agree on a smooth transition.
“That’s always the last resort. Makikialam ang gobyerno under the Constitution,” Fuentebella said./PN
