Company that gives more

It is difficult to imagine a life without power to light up homes. It is essential to provide people with a decent quality of life. It also allows businesses to operate without interruptions so they can produce goods and services more efficiently, which leads to economic growth.

Imagine Metro Manila, for instance, plagued with brownouts that will result to the economy being in shambles.

Yet, in contrast, a dark and quiet rural town at night due to a lack of electricity is a typical occurrence in the provinces — but not in Iloilo City. And MORE Electric and Power Corp. or MORE Power, the city's sole electricity provider owned by businessman Enrique K. Razon, played a major role in this.

With Roel Castro in the driver's seat, the company has helped the local economy of Iloilo exponentially grow.

Castro is the president and chief operating officer of MORE Power — a well-loved boss for his quirky personality and his strong commitment to the company and the customers.

Contrary to other company heads who exuded intimidation, Castro was an approachable one, as described by one of the company's communications officers, he is a welcoming boss.

According to colleagues, an approachable CEO like Castro helps build trust and rapport with employees and the community they serve.

In an interview, Castro, who has a wealth of experience in navigating through the power sector, said he has set an ambitious goal for the company but emphasized that he would do it one step at a time.

"I would like to focus on our commitments here in Iloilo first. Personally, I like to accomplish all our targets here before we expand our services to more areas. But who am I to say no to customers' clamor, right?" Castro said.

Major economic player

In Iloilo, Castro said MORE Power had played an important role as one of the economic drivers.

A recent study by the University of Asia and the Pacific found that MORE Power's affordable and reliable power supply and services have a positive impact on Iloilo's economy, contributing approximately P4.99 billion, or 3.8 percent, to the city's gross domestic product each year.

The study also revealed that since MORE Power took over the city, it has helped create 6,693 jobs directly and indirectly from 2020 to 2022, which has reduced the average number of unemployed people in the city by 10.6 percent each year. This resulted in an additional P1.75 billion in household income for Iloilo City from 2020 to 2022.

For UA&P president Dr. Winston Padojinog, MORE Power's massive investments in power infrastructure should be replicated in other industries to propel further economic growth.

"It is important to invest in and improve public infrastructure. You could see that a reliable utility infrastructure and a reliable infrastructure provider will have reverberating effects on the economy," Padojinog said.       

Savings ensured for customers

Padojinog pointed out that the decrease in system losses also benefited consumers, injecting an estimated P1.01 million into the economy through additional spending in 2022.

"The system's loss, think of it as savings to households where when they save, they spent 60 percent of that. As a multiplier of the effect of 2.5, you can see the multiplier effect in the consumption economy of Iloilo," he added.

However, Padojinog suggested that local leaders should push for policy stability to maintain economic growth and further attract investments.

"We should ensure policy stability before we attract investors. Long-term projects require stability because investors would like to ensure they get returns for their investments. Projects should give returns, and if we always change policies, we will not attract and retain investors," Padojinog said.

Calibrated move

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.

However, Castro reiterated that the company's expansion is anchored on         well-crafted and carefully calibrated tactics.

"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. I would like to focus on our commitments here in Iloilo. The expansion was led by the clamor of the people," Castro said.

To him, MORE Power's expansion to Bacolod City in Negros Occidental was a response to the clamor of consumers for better 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 or not good. 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.

"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.

MORE Power initially earmarked P4 billion to modernize the system of its newest partner, CENECO.

Castro said about P2 billion will be for asset purchases and another P2 billion for the capital expenditure program. The substantial investment will bring in much-needed change across the CENECO franchise area.

Government-backed

In a separate interview, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. 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.