BAGUIO CITY– The National Electrification Administration (NEA) interposed no objection to the decision of the Board of Directors of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) that increased its burial assistance to member-consumers from P5,000 to P10,000.
However, the NEA advised the electric cooperative to exercise prudence in the disbursement of funds for other non-power costs, to consider the cooperative’s financial capability and its inclusion in the 2019 cash operating budget.
Earlier, the BENECO Board of Directors approved Resolution No. 2019-01 which approved the amendment of the board policy on burial financial assistance to increase the same from P5,000 to P10,000 as approved by the cooperative’s annual general membership assembly.
The burial assistance will be given to the legitimate heirs of the deceased member of the electric cooperative who will have a one year period to file his or her application to claim the said benefit from the cooperative to help them defray the expenses during the wake and burial of the deceased member-consumer.
Funds to sustain the grant of the burial assistance to member-consumers will be drawn from whatever non-power cost of the electric cooperative to prevent the same from being affected that will have an impact on its operational cost once the funds for the assistance will be drawn from the cooperative’s power cost.
BENECO is one of the few Triple A rural electric cooperatives which was able to comply with the stringent standards of the industry imposed by concerned government agencies and regulating bodies wherein it was able to sustain a single digit systems loss over the past several years, effective and efficient collection system, and the ability to extend assistance to other electric cooperatives in the different parts of the country during emergency situations.
Further, BENECO is often chosen by other rural electric cooperatives and even private distribution utilities in the different parts of the country as their benchmark in terms of effectively and efficiently managing their operations considering that it was able to make its rate low despite the presence of non-viable areas that is servicing which entails huge investments just to bring electricity to the countryside.
From a previously ailing electric cooperative in the late 1980s, BENECO was able to grow into one of the country’s top performing rural electric cooperative under the stewardship of BENECO General Manager Gerardo P. Verzosa who was then assigned by NEA to fix things in the administration, management and operation of the multi-awarded cooperative.
To help in its efforts to continue exploring ways and means to significantly reduce the power rate it is charging to its rapidly increasing number of consumers, BENECO is now venturing on the put up of minihydro power plants that are instrumental in maximizing the utilization of the rich resources of Benguet that could be used to further lower the power rates of consumers.
The franchise granted to BENECO to provide the power needs of the consumers in Baguio City and Benguet will expire by the year 2028 so efforts are being done by the management to facilitate the renewal of the said franchise which was granted to the rural electric cooperative by Congress of the Philippines.
By HENT