PECO franchise ‘ibinasura’ ng Ilongos — Enrique Razon

HINDI naging maganda ang palakad ng Panay Electric Company (PECO), ang nag-iisang distribution utility sa Iloilo City, kung kaya’t nagbigay-da­an ito para makapag-apply at makuha ng More Electric and Power Corp.

Ito ang tinuran ng bu­si­ness tycoon na si Enri­que Razon Jr., na siyang nasa likod ng distribution utility na binigyan ng bagong prankisa ng House of Representatives at Senado para sa bagong supplier ng koryente sa Iloilo City.

“If PECO had been doing a good job, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to apply for this franchise and trans­form it into a modern, efficient, low cost and state-of-the-art distri­bution network. PECO is no. 20 in the list of distri­bution utilities in the Philippines, an indication of poor performance.  Given that its franchise area is a compact and contiguous urban area, it should have been in the top 5 or top 10,” paliwa­nag ni Razon.

May apat na henera­syon na umanong nagsa­sakripisyo ang mga Ilong­go sa kanilang problema na magkaroon nang ma­ayos na supply ng koryen­te at patunay dito ang may 1,800 nakabinbing reklamo laban sa PECO kasama rito ang poor services, overcharging, maling meter readings, mataas na electricity rate, mahinang customer ser­vice at madalas na nararanasang brownout.

“Clearly, it is time that the Ilonggos are relieved of their misery,” giit ni Razon.

Sa alegasyong bagong kompanya lamang ang MORE Electric and Power Corp., sinabi ni Razon, talagang hindi sila maiha­hambing sa PECO dahil ang kanilang kompanya umano ay may track record ng pagkakaroon ng start-up at large scale projects hindi lamang sa Filipinas kundi sa buong mundo.

“PECO has become a rent-seeking business run by the family who are multiplying and draining the resources and earnings of PECO through divi­dends for themselves.  They are a throwback to the hacienderos of lore.  They behave like the franchise is a birth right.  It is a privilege, not a right,” patutsada ng negosyante.

Dagda ni Razon, ang PECO ang may pinaka­mataas na generation charges sa bansa, mas mataas umano ito nang P2.50/kwh kompara sa Manila, Cebu and Davao ngunit pinakamababa naman ang distribution charge.

“This is clear evidence that PECO has not made any meaningful invest­ments in their facilities for decades.  Their distri­bution lines, transformers and substations are also probably 95 years old,” ani Razon.

Ilan umano sa maki­kita sa pasilidad ng kom­panya ay undersized at crowded feeders, pabag­sak na mga poste, hindi maayos na service drops, hindi ligtas na clearances ng mga linya, substations at transformers.

“These have resulted in frequent power outages and service interruptions. Moreover, PECO has ex­tremely poor reliability indices. The SAIFI of PECO of 31.15 is actually 1,400 percent above the Philippine average of 2.18. The SAIDI of PECO is 1,612 or 3,000 percent above the Philippine average of 54.  PECO systems loss in 2017 was 9.93 percent, the highest among private utilities in the Philippines,” pagta­tapos ni Razon.

HATAW News Team