The Energy Regulatory Commission said Panay Electric Co.’s operational lapses could be grounds for the revocation of its certificate of public convenience and necessity.
The regulator, however, said it could not transfer the CPCN to More Electric Power Corp. yet because of pending legal issues.
ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera said PECO had rectified some, but not all the concerns raised by the agency’s technical team.
The team that conducted an ocular inspection on the electric distribution system of PECO last year found that the distributor committed lapses in the operations and maintenance of its distribution system.
Devanadera said there were hundreds of pole fires in Iloilo City, the franchise area of PECO.
“There were pole fires and for a year there were 400, 500 pole fires, so how do you explain that? The explanation that it’s all in the telcos…but the poles are their responsibilities and the telcos pay the DU [distribution utility]. So for us, who is the one ultimately liable and responsible?” Devanadera said.
ERC last year directed PECO, the power distributor of Iloilo City, to submit its explanation for the apparent operational lapses found by the agency’s inspection team.
PECO operates the distribution network of Iloilo City by virtue of an ERC-issued CPCN. A new distribution utility, MORE, is set to take over the city’s distribution system, but PECO contested this in court.
Devanadera said MORE had not yet received its writ of possession of the distribution assets of PECO.
“Under the law, we can only issue CPCN if there is readiness on part of applicant. MORE has to establish the readiness. Since the readiness is not yet there, meaning they don’t have yet the facilities. MORE has already filed the expropriation, but they have not been issued the writ of possession,” she said.
“We cannot give the CPCN until they are ready,” Devandera said.
She expressed confidence that the legal issues would be resolved within the two-year transition period which began in February 2019. The two-year transition period is a part of MORE’ s franchise requirement to ensure the security of power supply to Iloilo City residents.
“I believe it will be resolved. Two years will be too long for a transition,” she said.
