Iloilo power demand growth seen at 6-8%

POWER DEMAND in Iloilo City is expected to grow 6-8%, driven by the growth in business activity, according to MORE Electric and Power (MORE Power).

“We’re having a peak of about 132 megawatts this year, that’s our projected (demand) and that’s about 9% higher from last year,” MORE Power President and Chief Executive Officer Roel Z. Castro told reporters last week.

“If the trend continues and barring any other problems, we’re looking at between… 6-8%,” he added.

Mr. Castro said business process outsourcing (BPO) is driving power demand growth, followed by services also powered receiving a boost from BPO investment.

“Right now, it’s still really the BPOs and allied services because (the industry creates) demand for food, transportation, housing, and so on,” he said. “That’s really making things happen in Iloilo.”

Iloilo City Mayor Geronimo P. Treñas said that the city’s economy is growing by 9.6%, resulting in demand for additional baseload power.

“We have not (needed to) increase our real property taxes in 18 years because what was needed for the additional services was provided by the businesses coming in,” Mr. Treñas said.

Among highly urbanized cities outside Metro Manila, Iloilo City had the fourth-highest gross domestic product (GDP) growth per capita, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Mr. Treñas said that the local government is talking to possible investors for a baseload plant in the city.

“(Energy) Secretary (Raphael P.M.) Lotilla is encouraging solar plus battery plus diesel, and maybe later on liquefied natural gas because there’s a moratorium on coal,” he said. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera