The National Electrification Administration (NEA) rated the performance of electric cooperatives (ECs) positively following the recently concluded 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) based on the assessment of its Power Task Force Election (PTFE).

While there have been significant outages reported before, during, and after the polling period, which affected some precincts, the majority of the ECs managed to restore electricity service immediately, according to NEA Engineering Department Director Eric Villar.

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘌𝘊𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦,” said Villar, the overall team leader of the NEA-PTFE, over the weekend.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘊𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳,” he added.

Moving forward, the electrification agency aims to establish an integrated data and information collection system remotely through a digital dashboard, which is part of the planned command center under the leadership of NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda.

This is to address the reporting challenges experienced by some power co-ops. The state-owned corporation seeks to improve its monitoring systems to better understand and supervise the ECs' operations in nearly real-time.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘌𝘈, 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳, 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘊𝘴’ 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘌𝘈-𝘗𝘛𝘍𝘌 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘊𝘴’ 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴,” Villar said.

Most of the power co-ops listed ‘unknown’ as the top cause of reported outages, followed by equipment and trees, among others. The NEA-PTFE officially wrapped up its monitoring activities following the Commission on Elections’ (COMELEC) conclusion of the 2023 BSKE. ###