The National Electrification Administration (NEA) said it surpassed its electrification target for 2019 with over 500,000 new consumer connections, bringing the overall energization level under the franchise areas of different electric cooperatives (ECs) nationwide to 95 percent.
Data from the agency’s Information Technology and Communication Services Department showed that from January to December last year, ECs reached 586,144 additional consumer connections.
This number is 27 percent higher than the corporate target of 460,000 additional consumer connections for 2019, said Edgardo Masongsong, NEA administrator.
The overall level of energization within the coverage areas of non-profit distribution utilities nationwide is at 95 percent or 13,625,857 connections out of the 14,335,784 potential consumers based on the 2015 census.
About 47 percent of these consumer connections or 6.429 million are located in Luzon, 27 percent or 3.641 million are in Visayas, and 26 percent or 3.556 million are in Mindanao.
The provinces with the highest number of consumer connections are Negros Occidental (616,041); Pangasinan (561,052); Batangas (512,242); Cebu (506,580); and Leyte (452,531).
“For this year to 2022, the challenge is the energization of the remaining 1,874,709 unserved consumers within the coverage areas of 121 electric cooperatives across the country,” Masongsong said.
This year, NEA is provided P2.3 billion in national government subsidy for rural electrification projects under the General Appropriations Act, wherein P1.399 billion will be allocated for the continuing implementation of the Sitio Electrification Program.
NEA will prioritize ECs with low electrification rates particularly those at 74 percent and below that have good project liquidation performance.
Masongsong said power co-ops in areas with problems on peace and order, financial liquidity and those classified as medium and below will also be considered for specific electrification related projects.
Better performing ECs will be required to utilize their internally generated funds, scout potential private investors for joint ventures, tap international and local grants and programs, and include in their capital expenditure project application to the Energy Regulatory Commission other necessary programs for development.
As a supervisory body to 121 ECs nationwide, NEA regularly monitors distribution system parameters such as systems loss and reliability, circuit kilometers and substation capacity to ensure that they remain operationally reliant and technically efficient in delivering service to their member-consumers. It is also mandated to implement the total electrification of the country.
