More Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power), the electric distribution utility of this city, will subject its long-term power supply requirement starting January next year to a competitive selection process (CSP) to provide consumers with competitive and better electricity rates.
MORE Power president and chief operating officer Roel Castro said on Saturday as preparation, they have constructed a 69-kilovolt (kV) switching station in Barangay Banuyao, La Paz that would connect all its substations to the Sta. Barbara substation of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).
“What we did is that there will be a 100 percent opening to the grid so that all power generators in (the) Visayas and Luzon can actually participate,” Castro said in an interview. “Whoever wins, wherever from the Philippines, will be able to deliver their electricity to Iloilo because the system is 100 percent open to the grid.”
He said they are eyeing to have a 10-year dedicated contract for about 85 megawatts (MW) to 100 MW, although it would still depend on the trend in the next few months and their power projections.
The current configuration, Castro said, is that 30 percent is connected to the grid and 70 percent of the needed generation for the city is supplied by the Panay Energy Development Corp./Panay Power Corp. (PEDC/PPC) of the Global Business Power as stipulated in their one-year emergency contract when MORE took over the distribution utility in February last year.
He added that it would be difficult to have a 100 percent competitive process for power supply given the present setup because 70 percent of the line is owned by PEDC/PPC.
During its initial phase of operations, MORE Power has reduced to PHP10.15 per kWh the average residential rate in the city from the PHP11.31 per kWh rate of the former distribution utility.
This May, the average residential rate was at PHP9.73, lower compared with the PHP10.28 per kWh rate in April.
Castro said he could not yet talk about what the price would be once it passes through the CSP, but because more than 20 are joining the bidding, it would mean that they would submit a lower quote.
He said the rate difference would be “substantial”.
“This is really the mandate of DOE (Department of Energy) that power supply should be done via a competitive selection process,” Castro said.
Apart from the CSP, MORE Power will also get 10 percent to 15 percent of its power supply from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
“Though prices in the WESM are highly volatile, it is also noteworthy that on the average, WESM prices are relatively low, especially during off-peak periods,” he said.
The switching station was inaugurated on May 18 and will go online on May 26. (PNA)
