BANGUED, Abra – Local officials and consumers of the beleaguered Abra Electric Cooperative (ABRECO) are demanding the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to take over the operation of the rural electric cooperative in the light of the instability of the power supply caused by alleged mismanagement of some of its officers.
Gov. Eustaquio Bersamin said the request for DOE and NEA takeover of ABRECO was already relayed to Energy Secretary Jerico Petilla and NEA Administrator Editha Bueno so that the perennial power outages in the province will be averted and that a reliable power supplier will be put in place.
“We do not want our people to always be suffering the difficulties of power outages as a result of the disconnection of our power supply due to unsettled obligations of ABRECO,” Bersamin stressed.
He said DOE and NEA must implement a top to bottom revamp in ABRECO so that more efficient and effective managers should be put in place for them to address the pressing concerns of the cooperative of having unpaid obligations with their power supplier that resulted to power outages to the inconvenience of the over 140,000 consumers of ABRECO.
Furthermore, Bersamin claimed DOE and NEA must also compel ABRECO general manager Loreto Seares, Jr. to abide by his notarized commitment that in case of notices of disconnection, he will relinquish his position but up to now amidst the series of disconnection notices issued to ABRECO by its power supplier, Aboitiz Power Renewables, Inc. (APRI), and the recent disconnection of power, he never fulfilled his commitment to quit his post.
Bersamin also called on DOE and NEA officials to help ABRECO find a reliable power supplier in order to guarantee the sustainable supply of power to the people of Abra and prevent the occurrence of unexpected power outages during the Yuletide season to allow Abrenians to celebrate the Christmas and New Year with flying colors.
The governor cited even ABRECO officials are not sure where their current power is coming from after the DOE interceded and worked out the restoration of power in the province when their supply was disconnected Monday noon.
He recommended that ABRECO officials who were elected during the election of the Board of Directors over the weekend should work out the firing of incompetent officers so that those deserving ones will be the ones to take their place to make sure that ABRECO will be in good hands of managers.
Several notices of disconnection were issued to ABRECO over the past several months for its failure to settle its power obligations with APRI but because of the intercessions of local and energy officials such disconnections were deferred.
Bersamin underscored ABRECO, together with DOE and NEA officials, must craft long-term solutions on how to prevent the occurrence of unexpected power outages that will take its toll on the gains of the growth of the province’s economy so that socio-economic development will continue to spread in the remote communities of the province.