Electric consumers in Iloilo City slam new power firm after 13-hour brownout
ILOILO CITY –– Irate electric consumers in Iloilo City ranted on social media on Sunday against the city’s new distribution firm after a scheduled 13-hour brownout extended for another two hours.
Consumers, mostly from Mandurriao District, flooded social media sites, including the Facebook page of More Power Electric Corp. (More Power) after the scheduled brownout from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. lasted until nearly 8 p.m.
More Power, owned by shipping tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., had announced the brownout to conduct preventive maintenance on the Mandurriao power substation, where big commercial establishments are located.
Four other substations were also subjected to preventive maintenance earlier.
After the 13-hour scheduled brownout, the distribution firm announced that it could not restore electricity to the affected areas due to the “misalignment” of the disconnect switch of a 69-kilovolt sub-transmission line.
Apologizing to its consumers, More Power said, in a statement, that it needed an additional two hours for its technical team to install a bypass wire.
“The maintenance work at the Mandurriao substation is the fifth and last round of maintenance optimization that we have been instituting to repair all the aging substations and enhance their performance for them to run at maximum efficiency,” it said.
The power distribution that took over the Panay Electric Company said the preventive maintenance work at the substations “is a critical part of ensuring their optimal performance in the long term. After continual use, all machines will begin to deteriorate in functionality, making them less efficient and less reliable which is why this preventive maintenance work is essential to ensure that they will be working efficiently and safely.”
“With all the substations now primed and powered up, we assure everyone that the chance of emergency or unnecessary repairs are now reduced as the maintenance efforts lowered its chance from happening,” according to the power distribution firm.
Since it took over the city’s power distribution firm in March, More Power has been facing complaints from consumers on repeated and prolonged brownouts.
The firm has blamed “dilapidated” facilities that it inherited from Peco.
But Peco, in an earlier statement, said the outages “could have been prevented or at least reduced if those at (More Power) knew what they were doing.”
Peco has repeatedly questioned More Power’s competence to operate and manage the city’s electric distribution system citing the firm’s lack of experience and track record.
The Supreme Court earlier this month upheld the constitutionality of provisions of Republic Act 11212, which granted a 25-year franchise to More Power, and the power to expropriate distribution assets of Peco.
The Iloilo Regional Trial Court will still determine the amount for the just compensation of the expropriation of all of Peco’s assets valued at at least P481,842,450.
Peco has been operating for 96 years, but its franchise expired on Jan. 18, 2019. Congress did not renew its franchise but granted a 25-year-old franchise to More Power.
