Iloilo City’s power infrastructure is ready to support significant new investments, according to MORE Electric and Power Corp.
Roel Castro, president and chief executive of MORE Power, assured potential investors during a Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) meeting on Aug. 29 that the city’s power grid is stable and has substantial excess capacity to fuel future growth.
Castro noted a sustained upward trajectory in Iloilo’s economy since 2015, with only a temporary dip during the pandemic.
He said that with modest year-on-year growth projections of 2-3 percent, the foundation for expansion is solid.
“We came in 2020, and our growth in electricity demand has been increasing,” Castro said, highlighting a key indicator of economic activity.
MORE Power, Iloilo City’s distribution utility has seen its customer base nearly double in five years, from 62,000 accounts in 2020 to about 115,000 today.
This rapid growth necessitated a monumental catch-up effort in infrastructure.
Castro said the company inherited a system that was “a bit behind,” forcing an aggressive five-year investment program in critical assets like substations.
“After this year, we will be ahead of the curve,” Castro said.
“This means that Iloilo’s electricity or power infrastructure will already be above the curve, which means that Iloilo will be ready for investment. We would be confident and not be afraid of any investment that would come, and that would require power.”
He quantified this readiness, revealing that the system has about 36 percent spare capacity available to absorb new industrial, commercial and residential demand without requiring immediate new large-scale construction.
Castro’s presentation also detailed dramatic improvements in service quality and efficiency. System loss—a critical metric for utility performance and cost efficiency—has been slashed from 30 percent to an impressive 4.75 percent.
He said the frequency of power interruptions has plummeted from 18 times per year to less than one, providing businesses with the reliability required for modern operations.
These upgrades are supported by a fully operational Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system across the franchise area, which enables real-time grid monitoring and control. The utility is also poised to enter the next phase of modernization with the rollout of automated metering.
“This is to show you that we are at least ready for the next five years,” Castro said.
“We welcome all of you, as investors, to Iloilo City.”
