Iloilo consumers denounce daily brownouts

ILOILO CITY, Philippines—Businessmen and consumers in Iloilo City are complaining against the rotational brownouts in the city that range from 30 minutes to several hours almost daily.

The brownouts affecting the city’s six territorial districts have resulted to business losses, breakdown of office equipment and household appliances and additional expenses in the purchase of generator sets, according to Joemarie Agriam, Western Visayas governor of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

“As consumers, we demand a better service from the (Panay Electric Co.) since we pay our bills on time despite the high cost of electricity,” Agriam said.

Peco, the city’s lone power distributor, which has been operating since 1923, services 53,000 households, commercial establishments and offices.

Agriam said frequent brownouts also dampen the campaigns of businessmen to attract more investors and tourists to the city.

“Our credibility and integrity are diminished by (the brownouts),” he said.

The women’s group Gabriela said the brownouts have belied assurances of government officials and private power producers and distributors that power supply in the city would be stable and affordable when coal-fired power plants are allowed to operate.

Roxanne Arsaga, chairperson of Gabriela in Iloilo City, said consumers have to bear with inefficient and high cost of service of privately owned power-producing and distributing entities.

Randy Pastolero, Peco vice president for operations, said the brownouts, which became frequent starting last month, have been caused mostly by maintenance work to transfer electric poles and lines in many areas where road widening and drainage projects are being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways.

He said power supply to areas near the project sites have to be shut off for four hours or more while the electric poles and lines are being transferred.

Peco has transferred 500 electric poles with another 700 set to be relocated until Oct. 7, including those along the eight-lane Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue, according to Pastolero.

He said there were also instances when the brownouts were caused by technical problems, including breakdown in their power line insulators.

Blackouts have also been caused when Peco’s power supplier undergoes maintenance work for its power plants.

Peco is supplied by coal-fired power plants of the Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) and diesel plants of the Panay Power Corp. (PPC).

The PEDC and PPC are both subsidiaries of the Global Business Power Corp.

Engineer Nilo Madrid, PEDC plant manager, said PEDC supplies 70 megawatts to Peco and another 15 MW from PPC.

He denied that maintenance work on their plants are among the cause of the brownouts.

“We have more than enough supply and we even sell our excess power to the energy market during off-peak hours,” Madrid told the Inquirer.

PEDC and PPC only stop supplying electricity to Peco when their specialized protection systems are activated in response to technical malfunctions of Peco’s distribution systems.

He said the protection system is triggered to protect their plants from being damaged.

In 2012, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog asked Congress to review Peco’s franchise for the possible entry of other power distributors amid complaints of brownouts and poor service. But no review has been conducted.