MORE Power gears up for spike in supply demand

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

MORE Electric and Power Corp. is more focused than ever on delivering its promises to improve the power distribution services in Iloilo City amid moves to expand its services to parts of Iloilo

Province via congressional fiat.

In a presentation to the Iloilo City Council on Oct 10, 2021, MORE Power President and COO Roel Castro laid down what they have achieved and their future plans during the 25-year franchise of the distribution firm.

Castro summed up his presentation on MORE Power’s desire to prepare Iloilo City for more investors and the consequent increase in demand for power.

Starting 2020, MORE Power invested in substations load corrections, protections and improvements.

Part of the initial P1.9 billion capital expenditures allocated by businessman Enrique Razon, who has majority control of the firm, was meant to improve the reliability of power in Iloilo City in the first 5 years of its 25-year franchise.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) already approved P1.3 billion of the CapEx plan submitted by MORE Power.

As a result, MORE Power improved the loading capacities of the five power substations. The Jaro substation’s load is now down from 85 percent in 2020 to 66 percent in 2021, while the Mandurriao substation eased from 91 percent to 81 percent thanks to the activation of the new 12.5 MVA substation in Megaworld area in Mandurriao.

The Lapaz substation remains at a safe 63 percent load while City Proper station decreased from 83 percent to 73 percent. The Molo substation also improved from 93 percent to 76 percent.

With the safe loading level prescribed by ERC at 70 percent, only the substations in City Proper, Molo, and Mandurriao remain at unsafe levels. The rest improved with the introduction of the Megaworld substation.

The substation rehabilitation also included replacement of 21 electromechanical relays with digital relays. The improvement provides wider variety of protection settings, power quality monitoring, and makes the substations ready for the SCADA technology which will fully automate the distribution system.

Another milestone in 2021 is the activation of the Banuyao switchyard which connected Iloilo City to the Visayas grid that lowered power rates for consumers.

For future developments, MORE Power is due to award the contract for the proposed new Megaworld 30/36 MVA substation in Mandurriao to cater to the fastest growth area of the city. The project is expected to be energized in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The City Proper substation will also be uprated from 20 MVA to 30/36 MVA also to accommodate more businesses in the old city center.

The 25/30 MVA Molo substation will also be rehabilitated by deploying a new 36 MVA mobile substation.

Castro said the investments in the substations will lower the loads of existing and new facilities below the 70 percent safe level by 2024.

“So far since 2020, MORE Power has decreased electricity rates, the frequency and duration of outages, illegal connections and system’s loss; and increased the number of consumers, the capacity of substations, investment on capital facilities, on manpower and engagement with the community,” he said.

The improvements, lower rates, and crackdown on power pilferers also increased consumer base from 63,000 to more than 83,000 in just a year, with a pandemic at that.

With pandemic restrictions slowly easing and businesses picking up enroute to the holidays, Castro said they are more bullish on their projects to accommodate sudden surges in demand for electricity.

“All these improvements and many more other investments is an indication of our strong commitment to Iloilo City when we secured our franchise,” Castro said.