April 15, 2018 | 10:08 pm
ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES
(ECs) are seeking an audience with the President in the face of moves from the
private sector to compete in their franchise areas even without them waiving
their right to provide services in the off-grid localities.
Their fear of losing
their franchise areas to private businesses came after the Department of Energy
(DoE) on March 11 issued a statement that it had committed its full support to
President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s call for the removal of “barriers to
electrification.”
Presley C. de Jesus,
president of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc.
(Philreca), said that ECs should not be characterized as ineffective as only 8%
of the total 121 ECs are ailing or underperforming.
Mr. De Jesus said it is
unfair for private companies to become interested in serving the far-flung
areas of the country after the electric cooperatives laid the groundwork, and
after the former cash-strapped nonprofit organizations invested in their
franchise areas.
He said claims that
electric cooperatives are inefficient are misplaced considering only a few of
their members are facing difficulties, and mostly those serving areas with
security issues such as Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
He said most electric
cooperatives have through the years gained financial and technical skills to
operate like their counterparts in the private sector.
Mr. De Jesus, who also
heads the electric cooperative in Isabela province, said that the entity he
serves emerged from “Category C” to a ”Triple A” rating through the assistance
of the National Electrification Administration.
He said the Isabela EC
serves even the remotest barangay with five households because they are within
its franchise area.
Mr. De Jesus, along
with heads of various electric cooperative organizations, were in Manila on
Friday to air their grievances.
The DoE statement last
month followed Mr. Duterte’s meeting with DoE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi and
Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chairperson Agnes T. Devanadera to discuss
missionary electrification in the “unserved” areas of the country.
The DoE said the
President made clear that he wanted the “barriers that are blocking the entry
of the private sector to provide better options and more choices for
communities.”
The department quoted
Mr. Duterte as saying that “the hurdles standing in the way of the total
electrification of the entire country” had to be removed.
“This has to stop,” the
DoE quoted the president as saying.
The DoE said it was
instructed along with the ERC to initiate bold executive actions to allow the
entry of the private sector so that consumers could have access to adequate and
affordable electricity.
Mr. De Jesus and the
other heads of electric cooperatives asked whether private companies will be
keen to serve ARMM, which remains among the few regions without adequate
electricity supply. — Victor V. Saulon
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