Razon eyes opportunities in power sector

MANILA, Philippines — Ports tycoon and casino magnate Enrique Razon is looking at different opportunities in the power sector around the country after successfully getting the franchise to operate a power distribution system in Iloilo City.

Razon said he is also looking at getting into the distribution business in Palawan, but nothing has been firmed up yet.

“We’re also looking at Palawan,” he said.

He is also involved in the 245-megawatt Chico River Dam project, a joint venture of San Lorenzo Ruiz Piat Energy and Razon’s Prime Metro Power Holdings Inc.

The joint venture plans to form a joint venture company that will construct and establish hydro facilities to supply power distributors and end-users in Luzon.

Its primary asset will be an area covered by the Chico hydropower service contract in Tabuk, Kalinga province.

San Lorenzo is the assignee and the holder of the Tabuk service contract issued earlier by the Department of Energy.

Last February, President Duterte signed Republic Act 11212 granting Razon’s MORE Electric and Power Corp. a franchise to “establish, operate, and maintain, for commercial purposes and in the public interest, a distribution system for the conveyance of electric power to end users in Iloilo City.”

The signing of MORE’s franchise ends a dispute with Panay Electric Co., the franchise holder in the province.

Razon said he is open to different power distribution opportunities.

However, Razon is not new in the power business. His presence now in the lucrative, but highly regulated power sector is a comeback of sorts.

In 2007, Razon’s Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. won the 25-year concession to operate the National Transmission Corp. with a bid of $3.95 billion. At the time, the firm was backed by mining mogul Walter Brown and Razon. Three years later, Razon eventually sold his stake in Monte Oro to Henry Sy Jr.

Razon is chairman of listed International Container Terminal Services Inc., a global ports operator and Bloomberry Resorts Corp., a listed gaming and integrated resorts company.