Power firm cuts off supply over P256-M debt
DAVAO CITY—Electricity generating company Aboitiz Power Corp. (AP) on Thursday announced it had cut the supply of power to a dispute-wracked cooperative in Davao del Norte due to some P256 million in debts.
Benedick Salvador, AP assistant vice president, said the company stopped supplying electricity to Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Daneco) past midnight on Sept. 1 because of the distributor’s unpaid bills.
AP said the cooperative, which serves Compostela Valley province, a large part of Davao del Norte and Samal Island, owed bills for 15 megawatts of power supplied by one of AP’s power plants, Therma South Inc.
The bills date back to 2016, AP said.
The firm said it would resume supplying electricity to Daneco only after the cooperative paid its debts and a security deposit.
Source of conflict
Salvador said although AP wanted to continue supplying electricity to customers of Daneco, “we also have to make sure that our capability to serve other customers in Mindanao is not affected.”
Daneco’s financial woes started after its management was wracked by a feud between two factions.
One faction decided to bolt the National Electrification Administration (NEA) in 2012 following a referendum that sought to convert the 47-year-old Daneco into a stock cooperative registered with the Cooperative Development Authority.
At least 40,000 of Daneco’s 120,000 members, or consumers, voted in favor of converting Daneco into a stock cooperative.
But the NEA-affiliated faction refused to recognize the move and insisted on operating under the original structure.
Demetrio Jagunos, director of the Daneco-NEA faction, said the cooperative’s current unpaid debts already stood at P2.2 billion, which could lead to a shortage in electricity.
