Permit revocation not yet final, says Peco

Panay Electric Co. Inc. (Peco) said the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) revocation of its permit was not yet final and was based on “misrepresentations” made by its rival, the Razon group’s More Electric and Power Corp.

In a letter to both companies dated March 5, ERC Chair Agnes Devanadera said Peco’s certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) was revoked, having found that More had established its own distribution network and had transitioned to full operations.

Peco legal counsel Estrella Elamparo said in a statement that the company had not officially received a copy of the ERC order, which she said “was premised on misrepresentations made by More.”

“We are hopeful that once we are able to apprise the ERC of the true situation that’s happening on ground, they will not only reverse this order but should also deny the outright the application of More for a CPCN,” Elamparo said.

She said that last week, More forcibly took over some substations of Peco on the strength of a writ of possession issued by Iloilo Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch.

The lawyer said that, following this, More announced that they were already in

I­loilo City and that they had taken full control of the facilities.

She said Peco contested the “illegal” RTC order, considering that there was a pending petition in the Supreme Court in relation to the constitutionality of the expropriation case.

According to Peco, More does not have any power distribution facility in Iloilo and does not have enough employees of its own to man the Peco substations they took over. INQ