Holding on to lower power cost

By Herbert Vego

THE sad news that befell Metro Manila last week was the increase in the cost of electricity by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to the tune of P9.65 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

Our good news here in Iloilo City, on the other hand, is that we still have the lowest power cost from MORE Power. As this corner said in a past column, no less than company president Roel Z. Castro revealed that it had maintained its reputation as the distributor of the cheapest electricity at ₱6.70/kWH despite the sudden rise in oil prices resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Does MORE Power have the willpower to keep it so low while the three branches of the Iloilo Electric Cooperative charge provincial residents from ₱11 to ₱13 per kWh?

On this, Mr. Castro said that if he could have his way, why not?  But the problem is that the distribution utility is at the mercy of energy generators.  And MORE Power is simply blessed with having entered into a short-term contract with the Leyte-based Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp. for cheaper geothermal energy or renewable heat sourced from the sub-surface of the earth.

We can only hope and pray for the renewal of their contract at the same terms and conditions, since such renewal does not guarantee similar pricing.

Fortunately, renewal of contracts with PSALM and other sources, would have to undergo a competitive selection process through the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM).

Moreover, there’s another reliable source of geothermal energy, the Aboitiz Power Renewables, which delivers baseload power from Tiwi, Albay. This company had also done business with MORE Power.

Renewable energy may also be sourced from the sun through solar panels.  But the cost of installation and maintenance in the households are still prohibitive.

However, no less than MORE chairman Enrique Razon Jr., through Prime Infra, has invested ₱2 billion in Solar Philippines Tanauan Corporation, which owns the 140-megawatt (MW) solar project in Cavite and the 50MW solar farm in Batangas.

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AKLAN VICE-GUBERNATORIAL BET CRIES ‘FOUL’

HE must be leading the pack of three vice-gubernatorial candidates in Aklan, and that could be the reason why our friend Jonathan Cabrera has to parry the black propaganda besmirching his reputation.

A female Sangguniang Kabataan official of Malay, Aklan has accused him of pocketing ten million pesos donated by a politician from another province for the poor patients of the provincial hospital in Kalibo.

Cabrera had personally requested for the donation on behalf of the Aklanon indigents who could not afford to pay for medicines and hospital bills.

In an open letter to his detractor, Christine Hope D. Pagsuguiron, Cabrera wrote in part, “Nakakapanghinayang ka, kasi magaling ka sanang leader pero maaga kang kinain ng maruming pamumulitika.”

Pagsuguiron is a supporter of Vice Governor Reynaldo “Boy” Quimpo and, I heard is a candidate herself for a local position.

On the air via Radyo Todo, Cabrera accused Pagsugiron of “misinformation.”  The check, he said, had already been received by the provincial government but could not be used as intended yet, pending the execution of a memorandum of agreement between the Department of Health and the capitol.

Cabrera, a former Sangguniang Bayan (SB) member of Malay, is the founder and station manager of the Aklan-based Radyo Todo and also the spokesman of MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) in Iloilo City.

An independent candidate for vice-governor, he faces two well-oiled opponents, Vice Gov. Boy Quimpo and Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Immanuel “Noly” Sodusta.

Surveys show that Cabrera ranks ahead of the aforementioned lawyers.

Congratulations in advance, JonCab.

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WHY IS LOREN GOING BACK TO THE SENATE?

WHY is Loren Legarda, who is only in her first term as congresswoman of Antique, yearning to go back to the Senate? She is one of the senatorial candidates of the “UniTeam”.

Shouldn’t she have opted for re-election for the sake of the Antiqueños who have learned to love and appreciate her for her performance?

If it’s simply to enable her brother Antonio Agapito to run for the position she is leaving, hmm… not pleasant.

However, according to our friend Annabel Consuelo Petinglay — provincial head of the Philippine News Agency — Loren would like to serve the entire nation once more, as in ensuring “that the target recipients of the One Tablet, One Student Act of 2021 will get their needed gadget.”

She is the author of that law that stands to benefit 26 million students attending online classes amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

She would work out additional funds for the implementation of Republic Act 9501 or the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Law, aimed at assisting entrepreneurs in turning livelihood opportunities into profitable realities.

It is our hope that with her expected election to the Senate, she would go on with what she had started for the province, one of which is maximized mobilization of the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) to go down to the barangay level in matching job seekers with available jobs.

Eh di wow!