Lopezes ready to invest more in Panay Electric
Whatever is the outcome of the ongoing struggle overwhelming Panay Electric Company (PECO), the Lopez group which owns the minority stake in the utility firm indicated that it is ready to inject more capital in the venture if needed.
According to First Philippine Holdings Corporation Chairman Federico R. Lopez, their company will always want to be there (at PECO), “because we think it’s like our family’s commitment to Iloilo.”
He added that his father, the conglomerate’s patriarch Oscar M. Lopez, “always wanted us to be part of Iloilo’s development.”
Lopez emphasized that “although we have not gone big as what the other groups had, as I always told him, we’ll maintain our presence in PECO. That’s our way to make sure that we’ll be part of Iloilo’s development.” The Lopez group owns 30-percent in PECO; while the Cacho family holds majority equity of 70-percent.
He further stressed “if it means that there would be a change or whatever, we’re also willing to partner with whoever it is. It’s our commitment to Iloilo, that’s what primarily it is.”
Just recently, the Private Electric Power Operators Association (PEPOA) has questioned the technical capacity of a mining firm intending to take over the operations of the power distribution firm.
PEPOA primarily raised this concern with the Legislative Franchise Committee of the House of Representatives which had been instrumental in fast-tracking the award of a franchise to mining firm More Minerals Corporation (MMC) to take possession of PECO’s operations of the power distribution network in its service area in Iloilo.
The group warned “a power crisis will definitely occur in Iloilo City and nearby towns if the franchise of an existing utility operator is not renewed and given instead to an applicant who has yet to put up the needed infrastructure for electric distribution utility.”
PEPOA is fiercely opposing “the franchise application of a new applicant (MMC),” that has been attempting to take over the Iloilo power utility’s operations.
In a letter to House Legislative Franchise Committee Chairman Franz Alvarez, the association of the power firms averred that “we are shocked to learn of the hasty approval of the franchise application of MMC to the detriment of the incumbent distribution utility PECO.”
PEPOA President Ranulfo M. Ocampo has stipulated in particular that “this development is deeply concerning to us as it puts a highly urbanized city like Iloilo at risk.”
He emphasized that “MMC is primarily a mining company, hence, (it) does not have the technical capability to operate and maintain a power distribution utility.”
Ocampo, who is a lawyer by profession, further opined that “MMC does not have the track record or the experience in running an electric distribution utility.”
It was similarly contended that “even if MMC were to change its primary purpose into power distribution, no company can get the required experience and qualifications in just a few days.”
Conversely, PECO can readily lean on its 95 years of power industry experience – and has in fact been in the roll of top distribution utility performers in the country, as gauged from its System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) record.
PEPOA cited in its letter that “they (PECO) are among the top 15-percent in terms of positive reliability performance compared to the other 146 electric distribution utilities in the country.”