CRACKDOWN ON THIEVES: Power pilferage in city is ‘organized business’

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

 

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas warned power thieves or jumpers that he will apply the full force of the law on them if they continue to steal electricity.

Treñas issued the warning during the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on iKonek program between the city government and MORE Power, the city’s distribution utility, on Wednesday.

The mayor said the Anti-Pilferage Act imposes stiff penalties and fines on persons caught with illegal electrical connections.

“We will apply the national law. All law enforcement agencies PNP and City Hall are supposed to implement the law. And I will implement the law. I have no choice. I will file cases if need be. For the bail bond, the amount is double the value of pilfered power. So it will be very harsh,” he added.

MORE Power president Roel Castro said they are actively tracking down “organized” jumpers operating in the city.

Castro said power pilferage has been a perennial problem of the city and is the main reason for the high systems loss, or supply lost to technical and other reasons like pilferage.

“Posible na organized group. It’s already negosyo na. Kanya-kanyang franchise din sila, kanya-kanyang area. We already identified them and in due time we will deal with them,” Castro said.

Castro said they estimate around 30,000 illegal connections in the city and their target is to bring the number down by half in 2020.

The proliferation of illegal connections in the city, which has been a problem since the time of the previous distribution utility, drives up systems losses which are actually paid for by legitimate consumers.

Castro said they estimate the current systems loss at more or less 20 percent, meaning, if the city consumes 100 megawatts (MW) a day, 20MW are consumed by jumpers. As a result, legitimate consumers end up paying for stolen electricity.

Apart from protecting the distribution system, reducing the systems loss will mean lower rates for legitimate consumers.

Numerous illegal connections also affect the stability of the distribution system as the distribution utility cannot properly profile the load on transformers and distribution lines.

“Illegal connections are the main causes of unscheduled brownouts because the lines and transformers are overloaded. If we can lower the systems losses, it will translate to lower rates. It also has aesthetic value because we will minimize those illegal wirings that are attached to our distribution lines,” Castro said.

Castro added that they are still getting reports of continuous illegal connections.

“We get two to three reports per day. It can increase and is increasing. If you see suspicious looking persons going up the distribution poles who are wearing MORE Power uniform and IDs, please inform us so we can apprehend them. To the many who have reported, we have responded,” added.

iKonek program is MORE Power’s initiative to convince jumpers to apply for legitimate connections by simplifying the requirements. The program aims to streamline and facilitate the applications for new lines and meters.

The Iloilo City government will be at hand to assist the applicants with their requirements.

“The drive is to bring down the systems losses as soon as possible. Vital ang local government because part of the requirements come from the city hall that’s why important ang program na ito to convert illegal connections to legitimate consumers,” Castro said.

How fast will the applications be approved?

“From end to end, 10 to 12 days finished na ang application. But we are still trying to cut it down drastically. May one-stop-shop na sa Fort San Pedro area with city hall offices and MORE Power personnel at hand to help the applicants para hindi na sila pabalik-balik sa mga requirements nila,” Castro assured.

So far, MORE Power has received 6,000 to 7,000 walk-in applications since it took over the power distribution services.