A group of businessmen in Iloilo has appealed to power firms Panay Electric Company (PECO) and MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to refrain from trading barbs.

“Ang pasaringay doesn’t help the city,” said Lea Lara, Iloilo Business Club (IBC) excutive director, in an interview with IMT NEWS.

The word war between PECO and MORE Power escalated after the twin blackouts last week due to the simultaneous shutdown of power plants owned by Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC) and Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC).

PECO is the current distributor of electricity in Iloilo City. It is operating under a two-year Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) issued by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

MORE Power, on the other hand, is the new franchise holder, but it has not started operations since it doesn’t have distribution facilities. It is owned by tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.

Lara said the exchange of barbs between the two power firms may affect the Iloilo’s atrractiveness to investors.

“Ang statements nila nga amo sina makadiscourage sa investors kag nagacause man worries among businesses nga nagaoperate diri.”

Lara is hopeful that the dispute over the distribution of electricity in Iloilo City will be resolved at the soonest possible time.

“Tani maresolve na ini para ma-assure ang mga negosyante sang stability sang power distribution sa city. The swifter nga maresolve ina, the better it is for all of us,” she said.

Meanwhile, representatives from PECO, Global Business Power (GBP), Palm Concepcion Power Corp (PCPC), and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) are scheduled to meet on Monday next week, Nov 11, to discuss the two blackouts that occurred last Oct. 29 and 30, and to come up with a better relay coordination to prevent massive power outages.

GBP, through its subsidiary PEDC, supplies power in most parts of Western Visayas.

PEDC operates three power plants in Barangay Ingore, La Paz district, Iloilo City.

NGCP operates, maintains and develops the country’s state-owned power grid, an interconnected system that transmits electricity from where it is produced to where it is needed.

“If there was good relay coordination, tripping lang ang mangyayari and there will be no systems affected. Yung problem kasi minsan, ma-address mo ngayon yung isang problem tapos may lalabas naman na isa, tapos mag-aadjust ka na naman,” said engineer Petronilo Madrid, first vice president of GBP’s Panay site operation.

“The good thing about close coordination among players is that naa-address and na-miminize naming ang outages,” he added.IMT