The Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) recently urged the more than 144,000 member-consumer-owners (MCOs) to pay their minimum share capital of PhP2,000 to generate the needed resources that will be used to implement various renewable energy projects of the electric cooperative that are already in the pipeline.
BENECO general manager Engr. Melchor S. Licoben said that to date, there are more than 26,000 MCOs that have fully paid their share capital amounting to more than PhP37 million which is placed under restrictive deposit with a local bank.
Last year, the annual general membership assembly approved the proposal of management to increase the share capital of the members from the previous PhP500 to PhP2,000 supposedly payable in two years and that the funds that will be generated will be exclusively used to implement various renewable energy projects of the electric cooperative.
Further, the attendees to the general assembly also approved the proposal to include in the monthly power bills of the consumers the collection of PhP100 for their share capital until such time that the minimum share shall have been paid to ensure the collection of the same.
However, Licoben explained that while it is true that the members approved of the collection of PhP100 in the monthly power bills of consumers to accrue to their share capital, such inclusion of the amount in the power bill must first be applied and approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) which is the body that regulates the charges that will be included in the monthly power bills of electric cooperatives and private power distribution utilities.
The BENECO official claimed that it might take some time for the ERC to act on the matter that is why the electric cooperative is conducting a massive information and education campaign to encourage consumers to pay their prescribed minimum share capital for the electric cooperative to raise the needed resources that will be used to start the implementation of some renewable energy projects within its franchise area that had been shelved due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, the accumulated share capital cannot be easily touched by the electric cooperative unless it is related to what had been approved by the general assembly that is why it is still intact with a depository bank and whatever share capital that will be collected will be deposited in the same account.
He said that BENECO was able to comply with the rigid requirements of being a registered electric cooperative with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) that is why its amended constitution and by-laws was approved by the regulatory agency that paved the way for the issuance of the certificate of tax exemption by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) allowing the cooperative to grant the prescribed exemption from the value added tax on the distribution, supply and metering charge which is one of the components of the monthly power bills of qualified consumers.
BENECO is eying a number of renewable energy projects within its franchise area, particularly a series of mini hydro power plants along the Agno River, some other hydro plants in the different towns of Benguet and a solar farm in Tabaan Norte, Tuba, Benguet as part of its ongoing efforts to become a generator of renewable energy that will help in further lowering the power rates being charged to its consumers.
The development of potential sources of renewable sources of energy in various parts of the country is one of the marching orders of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. which is part of the efforts to contribute in mitigating the worsening effects of climate change in the global arena. By Dexter A. See