MANILA, Philippines - The National Electrification Administration (NEA) has intensified efforts to prepare electric cooperatives (ECs) for a more competitive electricity industry once the open access scheme kicks in.
NEA administrator Edita S. Bueno acknowledged the need for ECs to keep up with the developments in the power industry as she addressed the 432 participants from 108 ECs and various local and foreign guests during the recent NEA-EC Consultative Conference in Quezon City.
“NEA and the ECs want to be part of the solution and not the problem,” Bueno said.
Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras, who is also the chairman of NEA’s board of administrators, earlier said ECs should be attuned with the times.
“Energy is such an important component of development. Electricity cuts across the whole spectrum of demographic areas and demographic classes. That is why NEA and the ECs are important components of the government initiative to bring services to the rural areas. There are many challenges in the energy sector and the key is to start finding the solution. We need to work together and to listen to each other,” he said.
In her speech, Bueno enumerated various topics in the EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) that directly affect the operation of the ECs.
These include unbundling of rates; the assumption of rural electrification loans; EC transition supply contract; default wholesale supplier (DWS); power supply contract; non-stock vs. stock ECs; competition facilities; wholesale electricity spot market (WESM); Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) privatization program; interclass subsidy; guarantee funds; value added tax; wholesale aggregators; and retail electricity suppliers (RES).
She said the participants need to communicate and articulate issues and concerns regarding their cooperatives, the rural electrification sector and the electricity industry.
Bueno noted that it was expected to generate the best options, solutions and recommendations regarding these issues and concerns.