BAGUIO CITY – The National Electrification Administration (NEA) disclosed there are some ten rural electric cooperatives in the different parts of the country classified as underperforming and are subject to rehabilitation pursuant to the terms and conditions of the agency.
NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong pointed out the only remedy for rural electric cooperatives not to be taken over by private distribution utilities is to perform well like the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO), one of the top performing rural electric cooperatives despite having to energize and maintain non-viable areas within its franchise area.
Of the 121 rural electric cooperatives in the different parts of the country, the NEA official revealed that 100 electric cooperatives are performing within and even beyond the prescribed industry standards while 10 cooperatives are under performing warranting support from fellow cooperatives and the concerned government agencies, like the NEA and the energy department.
“NEA is doing its best to provide the appropriate assistance to allow the underperforming rural electric cooperatives to recover and perform at par with other top performing cooperatives,” Masongsong stressed.
According to him, among the support being extended by NEA for the rehabilitation of underperforming rural electric cooperatives include the creation of task forces under the Task Force Kapatid where the expertise of other cooperatives are tapped and infused on the electric cooperatives needing help to improve their performance, apart from providing technical and financial assistance to improve the efficiency and reliability of the power distribution systems of the franchise holders.
Masongsong claimed one of the concrete examples of the electric cooperatives that underwent rehabilitation is the case of the ailing Abra Electric Cooperative (ABRECO) which was categorized to be Class D several years ago but improved its classification to Class C after the interventions spearheaded by the NEA and the participating cooperatives like BENECO, Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC) and the Ilocos Sur Electric Cooperative (ISECO).
He claimed that ABRECO settle its accumulated arrearages from its previous power supplier aside from improving its power distribution equipment and the financial systems that caused the improvement in its collection efficiency.
Earlier, NEA created Task Force Duterte Abra power to oversee the rehabilitation of ABRECO which was previously classified to be under performing because of its inability to settle its obligations with its power supplier, high systems loss and alleged mismanagement by the previous officials of the rural electric cooperative.
From the previous more than 400 workers of ABRECO, the number has been reduced to only 230 considering the implementation of the re-sizing of the electric cooperative’s work force apart from the significantly improved systems of operation that will ensure the efficiency in the delivery of quality power to the consumers in one of the conflict-stricken areas in the country.
By HENT