MORE Electric and Power Corp. has objected to an appeal made by Panay Electric Co. (PECO) to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to get back its license to operate as a private electricity utility in Iloilo City.
MORE Power said PECO continues to send monthly bills to customers despite losing its provisional certificate of public convenience and necessity. This prompted the local government of Iloilo to revoke the latter’s business permit.
“The deterioration of the distribution system of PECO accelerated during the one-year period when PECO, using all sorts of dilatory actions in the various courts, delayed the issuance and implementation of the writ of possession for the takeover of the distribution by MORE,” MORE said in its request to the ERC.
“During that one-year period, PECO ran the distribution to the ground with little or no rehabilitation or maintenance. Many parts of the aging system were overheating and bursting into flames on a regular basis,” it added.
The company said the report of the ERC’s technical inspection team convinced the commission that MORE Power has become fully capable and has taken full possession of the distribution system in Iloilo City which in turn became the reason for cancelling PECO’s provisional CPCN.
