BAGUIO CITY – The Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) is encouraging interested member-consumer-owners to avail of its pre-paid power services which is part of the innovations it introduced within its power distribution system which translates to the benefit of the increasing number of consumers within its franchise area.
BENECO General Manager Gerardo P. Verzosa disclosed the cooperative’s pre-paid power services is still available for interested consumers, especially those operating transient houses or renting out some of the rooms in their buildings, to help in saving expenses on the consumption of power because the estimated power that will be consumed will be the one that will be contained in the meters that will be installed in their structures.
Earlier, BENECO embarked on the use of the pre-paid power services to its consumers like what is being offered to power consumers in Metro Manila as an alternative for its increasing number of consumers, especially those operating transient houses and renting out rooms, for them to be able to save on power cost and purchase the pre-paid power only when needed in their rented houses.
The electric cooperative was purchased some 1,000 pre-paid meters available for installation in the residences of interested consumers wanting to avail of pre-paid power services.
However, Verzosa admitted it was difficult for management to impose on its officials and employees to avail of the installation of the pre-paid meters for its pre-paid power services thus it is currently aggressively promoting the use of the same for existing transient houses and rented rooms, aside from the fact that its application for the offering of pre-paid power services is currently pending with the regulatory body, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
According to him, the offering of the pre-paid power services to interested consumers is part of the electric cooperative’s overall plan to embrace the automated metering infrastructure that will allow the computers to read the monthly power consumption of big loaders before the same will be done to its consumers within Baguio City and La Trinidad.
Verzosa underscored the importance of the electric cooperative being able to work with the current advancement of technology to help in significantly maintaining its single digit systems loss and improving the reliability of its power distribution system to be able to bring to its increasing number of consumers quality power.
The BENECO official asserted the need for the electric cooperative to keep its power cost low apart from maintaining a decent single-digit systems loss to ensure it will remain competitive in the highly competitive power industry, especially at this time that there are some private power distribution utilities interested in taking over the operation not only of ailing electric cooperatives but also those that are doing well in the operation and maintenance of their power distribution system.
BENECO is one of the few class AAA rural electric cooperatives in the country that was able to achieve the coveted single digit systems loss, 100 percent collection efficiency among other aspects of its operations over the past several years.
By Dexter A. See
