MORE Power suspends repairs, rehab amid MECQ

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

In response to Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas’ appeal, MORE Power temporarily suspended all maintenance and repair works on distribution lines while Iloilo City is under the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ).

In a statement, MORE Power said the suspension of scheduled maintenance activities will avoid power interruptions in the city.

“Rest assured that we are of the same objective for the continuity of the lives of everyone in these difficult times and if it requires of us to momentarily defer the developments needed to ensure the improvement of our distribution lines as part of our modernization program, we are heeding that call to play our part.”

The MECQ is in force until May 31, 2021 due to rising COVID-19 cases in Iloilo City.

Earlier, Treñas called on MORE Power to temporarily suspend rehabilitation and repair works while the city is under modified enhanced community quarantine.

The call aims to ensure uninterrupted power supply while most residents are in their homes because of restrictions on their movements.

“I am requesting MORE Power to stop any improvement in the distribution lines of the city while we are under MECQ, and most of the Ilonggos are staying at home. Thank you,” the mayor said.

MORE Power said that the MECQ status will require most of the city population to stay in their homes to impede the spread of the virus, “making everyone fully dependent on utilities including electricity to go on with their lives.”

But the distribution utility said unscheduled outages are likely to occur after Iloilo City was connected to the Visayas grid through its new facility in Lapaz district.

“We have to note, however, that since our entire system is still undergoing process of normalization due to the switching of our 69 KV transmission line situated at Brgy. Banuyao, Lapaz, and with all our substations connected to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) starting today, there could be unscheduled outages but be rest assured that we have our stand-by Quick Response Teams to handle the unexpected interruption that might occur from this day onwards,” it added.

“Again, we have to emphasize that we have deferred our scheduled maintenance services. We assure everyone that MORE Power is always ready and will work to implement our business continuity plan to distribute the needed power at these very challenging times.”

 

GRID CONNECTION

Meanwhile, MORE Power said it has successfully connected on Wednesday its franchise area to the National Grid Corporation (NGCP) and the Visayas grid via its switching station at Brgy.  Banuyao, LaPaz.

Karen Joy Elequin, Energy Sourcing Manager of MORE Power, said Iloilo City began drawing 100 percent of its electricity supply from the Visayas grid.

The gradual switching which started Tuesday evening until Wednesday connected all MORE Power substations to NGCP’s Sta. Barbara substation.

With the new setup, MORE Power said it can now buy cheaper electricity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation.

The distribution utility also plans to initiate a Competitive Selection Process with power producers in January 2022.

In the previous connection setup, almost 70 percent of Iloilo City’s power requirements were supplied by Global Business Power through its own transmission line, thus preventing other producers from supplying electricity to the city.

Still, MORE Power said it managed to bring down prices of electricity by maximizing the remaining 30 percent requirement with other suppliers.