Razon-Pacquiao firm says plebiscite okays venture with SOCOTECO II

A plebiscite has approved the proposed joint venture agreement (JVA) between South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative (SOCOTECO II) and Primelectric’s IGNITE Power and Energy Holdings Inc., the latter said.

In a statement, Primelectric said that 137,978 member-consumer-owners (MCOs) voted in favor of the planned JVA between the electric cooperative and the firm backed by businessman Enrique Razon and boxing star Manny Pacquiao.

“We welcome the results of the plebiscite and thank the member-consumer-owners who participated in this important decision. Their vote gives us the opportunity to move forward with the work of modernizing SOCOTECO II’s distribution system and improving the reliability of electricity services for the communities it serves,” said Primelectric president and CEO Roel Castro.

Under the proposed conditional JVA, IGNITE Power would acquire SOCOTECO II's distribution assets, with 70% of the payment to be made in cash and the remaining 30% converted into SOCOTECO II's equity stake in the new distribution company.

IGNITE Power also aims to reduce the system-loss charge passed on to consumers from SOCOTECO II's current recoverable cap of 8.25% to 5.5%

Primelectric said that they plan to provide reliable electricity in General Santos City, Sarangani, and South Cotabato through IGNITE Power.

“Our priority is to build a more reliable and efficient distribution system that can keep pace with the growing needs of General Santos City, Sarangani and South Cotabato. This means improving customer care and services, investing in critical infrastructure, improving operational efficiency and strengthening the system’s capacity to serve households, businesses and industries,” said Castro.

Ignite Power is a partnership between Razon-led Primelectric Holdings Inc. and Manny Pacquiao’s MP Holdings.

The proposed partnership is expected to provide SOCOTECO II with new funding to upgrade its distribution infrastructure and improve power reliability. — BM, GMA News