August 14, 2019 | 10:38 pm
THE National
Electrification Administration (NEA) said Wednesday that 87 of the country’s
121 electric cooperatives (ECs) were classified as triple-A rated, the highest
possible grade, in 2018.
“The ECs’ performance
level for Calendar Year 2018 was impressive. Although there were lots of
challenges the NEA and the ECs encountered during the year, most of the ECs
sustained their exemplary performance,” NEA Administrator Edgardo R. Masongsong
said in a statement Wednesday.
“Those ECs which need
further improvements in overall performance should reassess existing programs
and implement more aggressive strategies to address major problems and
concerns,” he added.
NEA evaluates and
determines the power distribution utilities’ overall performance using two
criteria: key performance standards, which account for 80%; and EC
classification, 20%.
These criteria were
designed to measure the power cooperatives‘ full compliance on four parameters,
namely financial, institutional, technical, and reportorial requirements. The
ECs were rated from AAA as the highest to D as the lowest.
NEA said results of its
“2018 Electric Cooperative Overall Performance Assessment and Size
Classification” that 24 of the 87 power distribution utilities that received
AAA ratings got a perfect 100 point score in all the performance parameters.
All power distribution
utilities in Regions VI (Western Visayas), VII (Central Visayas) and Caraga
attained AAA rating, it said. Regions I (Ilocos Region) and VIII (Eastern
Visayas) emerged as the most improved regions after all of their ECs wee rated
AAA, it added.
The agency said the
assessment also showed that 83 ECs maintained their AAA rating, while nine
improved their scores in all performance levels. It added that 83% or 100 out
of the 121 ECs received a status of AAA, AA or A.
Of the remaining 21
ECs, four improved their operational performance either from C to B, or D to C.
A total of 12 utilities retained their performance level while five were rated
either B, C or D.
NEA said in 2018, the
number of “mega large” ECs increased to 66 from 64 in 2017. The increase was
after Sorsogon II Electric Cooperative, Inc. and Cebu III Electric Cooperative,
Inc. improved to mega large from extra large, it said.
Quirino Electric
Cooperative and Mountain Province Electric Cooperative, Inc. were elevated to
extra large from large, while Busuanga Island Electric Cooperative, Inc. went
to large from medium.
NEA previously proposed
to amend the existing guidelines to include the energization level of the EC
among the key parameters. Energization level is measured by the number of
consumer connections a power co-op achieves under a given timeline based on the
official reports or documents it submitted. — Victor V. Saulon
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