By Joann Santiago
MANILA, (PNA) — The San Miguel Energy Corporation (SMEC) needs about P1 billion to rehabilitate Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco), Albay Governor Joey Salceda said.
SMEC, the power unit of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), won the bidding for Aleco’s maintenance and operation.
The multisectoral ALECO stakeholders, in a referendum recently, chose SMEC over another electric cooperative to manage the electric cooperative.
In a media orientation spearheaded by the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association (PIPPA) Tuesday, Salceda said SMEC can earn as much as P600 million annually from Aleco.
He said SMEC will handle the operation and management of the electric cooperative and Aleco stakeholders will retain the ownership.
ALECO was disconnected of its power supply on July 30, 2013 due to unpaid debts to several power generators. Power was reconnected about 5 pm the following day.
Salceda attributed the disconnection to “failure to collect, failure to bill, and system losses.”
He said Aleco’s system loss is about 24 percent.
Aleco has about P4 billion liabilities to several groups that include the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC), National Electrification Administration (NEA) and the National Power Corporation (Napocor).