MORE Electric and Power Corp., the exclusive electricity provider in Iloilo City owned by the group of businessman Enrique K. Razon Jr., will expand its coverage to Bacolod City in Negros Occidental as a response to the clamor of consumers for better services.
"To put it in proper perspective, our expansion to Bacolod was asked by the consumers so it was not like we just wanted to take over the city. Personally, I would like to focus on our commitments here in Iloilo. The expansion was led by the clamor of the people," MORE Power president and CEO Roel Castro said in an interview with reporters last week.
MORE Power, through Primelectric Holdings Inc., recently signed a joint venture agreement to expand its Visayan market coverage with Central Negros Electric Cooperative or CENECO.
The tie-up aims to help CENECO, which serves over 200,000 customers, improve its power supply and distribution services.
"This will be the first time in the Philippines that two franchises in an area will compete and Congress wants to see if it will be good (for electricity users). We initially invested P1.5 billion. I would say that initially, it will connect us to 15 areas, but it will still depend on the take up of the demand," Castro explained.
Still a long way to go
"So right now, we are not yet looking for another expansion because we will finish Bacolod first. There is still a long way to go, we still have Congress, we still have ERC, and then there is more before the actual takeover," he added.
For his part, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said he is supportive of MORE Power's expansion to Bacolod City.
"MORE Power is a partner of the city. When MORE came in, the change was very dramatic in so far as the Ilonggos are concerned. We are happy. When they started talking with Bacolod, we were happy and supportive," Treñas said.
Since assuming the power distributorship in 2020 with just 74,196 customers, MORE Power expanded its customer base to 84,735 in 2021 and 90,692 in 2022.
To date, the company has 92,559 customers across its 78.3-square-meter franchise area.
MORE Power currently maintains a diverse mix of energy sources, the majority of which was still sourced from coal-fired plants but the company has already signified its intention to augment clean energy in the ratio.
