Primelectric Holdings Inc. of businessman Enrique Razon Jr. earmarked P4 billion to modernize and upgrade the distribution system of Central Negros Cooperative.
MORE Electric Power Corp. president Roel Castro said they are laying the foundation of Prime Electric’s joint venture agreement with CENECO in Negros Occidental province.
Castro said the JVA aimed to respond the public’s clamor for better services in the same way that MORE Power improved the services in Iloilo City.
CENECO and Primelectric signed the JVA that led to the establishment of Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC) which Castro will also head.
The two parties signed the agreement in the middle of 2023, which was ratified by CENECO consumers in a series of plebiscite votes from July to August.
The plebiscite results indicated that 98,591 votes, or 55.53 percent, of the 177,737 eligible voters approved the venture, above the 88,870 majority threshold.
Under the JVA, NEPC will acquire 70 percent of CENECO’s assets and will initially inject more than P1.4 billion to improve its distribution services.
The venture is seen to benefit more than 200,000 customers in the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Silay and Talisay and the towns of Don Salvador Benedicto and Murcia.
Castro said MORE Electric would continue to focus on Iloilo City.
“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 City. The expansion was led by the clamor of the people,” Castro said.
The success of the CENECO JVA brought to fore MORE Power’s bid to expand its operations to Iloilo province, particularly in the second and fourth districts which are under the service areas of three Iloilo Electric Cooperatives.
Castro said there are still some requirements that MORE Power should comply with before it could expand to the province.
“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 said.
“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,” he said.