NEA set to take over Zambo City electric utility

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The National Electrification Administration (NEA) is set to take over the operations of the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) to enable the cooperative to sustain its services to member-consumers.

NEA Edgardo Masongsong made the announcement after he spearheaded on Friday the Energy Summit here to address the problems that beset Zamcelco, which include the administrative, operational, and financial aspects.

Masongsong said these problems need to be resolved to keep the cooperative afloat. The cooperative has 128,299 member-consumers as of last July.

“Definitely, we will take over -- partial temporary operation and management takeover,” he said.

“We will look into the operations, particularly on the issue of the systems loss, collection efficiency, as well as the issue of corruption in Zamcelco that may be the factor as far as the system loss issue is concerned,” he added.

Zamcelco has 23 percent systems loss, which is way above the allowable 13 percent set by NEA. For every 1 percent, the cooperative loses PHP3 million, the NEA official said.

Masongsong said they will finalize the takeover of Zamcelco in a formal memorandum, adding that they will tap the assistance of the
organization of electric cooperatives once NEA takes over its management.

“The NEA will takeover (Zamcelco) to make sure there will be no power interruption, and to ensure the power suppliers will continue to supply Zamcelco with power,” he said.     

Zamcelco has a total standing debt of PHP2,144,666,297.77 to its power suppliers, including a loan with NEA, said Zamcelco General Manager Edgardo Ancheta, who presented the power utility's financial standing during the summit.

The breakdown of the debt are as follows: NEA, PHP373,897,283; Power Sector Assets and Liabilities management (PSALM), PHP238,285,860; Mapalad Power Corp., PHP2,119,202; Western Mindanao Power Corp., PHP197,729,387;

San Miguel Power, PHP374,179,561; Enfinity Solar, PHP212,762,836; National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, PHP17,270,332.14; Development Bank of the Philippines, PHP150,000,000; and other liabilities, PHP578,421,836.

The summit was initiated by 1st District Rep. Celso Lobregat, who visited Masongsong last week and requested him to provide the necessary technical and administrative assistance to Zamcelco. (PNA)