If Garin’s bill morphs into law…

By Herbert Vego

HAVING tackled the imminent entry of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to the 1st District of Iloilo, this corner has been asked how it would affect the power-distribution business of Iloilo I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ILECO I).

Well, I can only safely say that the district’s representative, Rep. Janette Garin, may have found good reasons for filing House Bill 7647, which would allow MORE Power to compete with ILECO I.

The bill has passed third and final reading and is now awaiting corresponding approval by the Senate.

It is aimed at reducing high electricity rates and upgrading service reliability, citing a Supreme Court ruling that allowed competition in the utility sector.

However, she expressed willingness to withdraw her bill if ILECO 1 could slash its residential rate by at least two pesos per kilowatt-hour.

No way. Atty. Salvador Cabaluna III, secretary of the ILECO 1 board of directors, told broadcaster Nermie Camiña of “Tribuna sang Banwa” on Aksyon Radyo that they could not comply with her request without losing.

Surprisingly, we have yet to hear from other top-level officials of ILECO 1.

So, we sought the cooperative’s former general manager, Engr. Wilfred Billena, for his two cents’ worth.

He responded, “Electric cooperatives can’t arbitrarily charge a rate without thorough scrutiny by the Energy Regulatory Commission.”

Assuming that to be true, then the 80,000 households and business establishments in all seven towns of the 1^st District that ILECO 1 serves — Guimbal, Igbaras, Miag-ao, Oton, San Joaquin, Tigbauan and Tubungan – could shift to the “cheaper” MORE Power.

Right now, MORE Power is penetrating six ILECO 1 towns outside of the 1st District — Alimodian, Cabatuan, Leganes, Leon, Maasin, Pavia, San Miguel and Sta. Barbara – by virtue of RA 11918, a law granting MORE Power the franchise to expand outside Iloilo city. These six are among the 15 municipalities and one city covered by the said law.

Assuming that ILECO 1 enjoys the patronage of 200,000 customers and half of them shift to the new player, will it survive the competition?

Again, we asked Engr. Billena for comment.

He said, “No matter what argument ILECO 1 makes, it’s a fact that their services have deteriorated over the years. Their system average interruption frequency index and other similar indexes have considerably gone up to the annoyance of consumers. That situation is not an indication of preparedness for competition.”

He quoted Canadian inspirational speaker Bob Hooey: “If you don’t take care of your customer, your competitor will.”

That reminds me of a parallel quotation from the late General Electric (GE) Chair Jack Welch: “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.”

My good friend Leopoldo “Doods” Moragas – a native of Miag-ao and retired senior assistant vice-president of the Philippine National Bank (PNB) who now lives in Seattle. Washington – reacted this way on Facebook: “ILECO I shall be left with no option but to enter into a joint venture agreement with MORE Power.”

Moragas was insinuating that such a partnership could shape up in the event the Garin bill morphs into law

Retired Provincial Prosecutor Rolando Escala Nielo agreed, “A joint venture would be a win-win solution.”

Let’s recall how the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) in Bacolod City saved itself from bankruptcy – saddled with hundreds of millions of pesos in debts — by teaming up with Primelectric (holding firm behind MORE Power), out of which emerged Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC or Negros Power) in 2024.

As an immediate result of that partnership, Negros Power has grown by leaps and bounds, starting from 177,737 customers in August 2024 to almost 300,000 today.

Like MORE Power, Negros Power has Roel Z. Castro as president/CEO.