Businessmen cite electric co-op turnaround

Leaders of the business community in the province of Aklan and the island resort of Boracay recently hailed the landmark improvement in the performance of the Aklan Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Akelco) which has given a significant boost to the province’s vital tourism industry.

Boracay Foundation president Nenette Graf said local tourist establishments "are now able to better provide world-class service" due to the more stable and reliable power supply to the island". This ability is crucial in the country’s bid to compete with other tourist destinations in the Asian region, she added.

Graf made the statement on the occasion of the second anniversary of the assumption of the new Akelco management. The change in management in April 2002 was triggered by massive dissatisfaction among tourism facilities operators over frequent and prolonged brownouts in the area due to operating problems and financial losses.

It will be recalled that the National Power Corp. was constrained to discontinue power supply to the then moribund electric cooperative. President Arroyo stepped into the controversy and ordered a change in the Akelco management.

Graf noted that under the new management, "Akelco’s collection efficiency has gone up, systems losses has gone down translates to a healthier fiscal condition for the cooperative".

"This means it is now able to pay off its past debts and is no longer in danger of having its power supply cut off by Napocor," Graf added.

According to Erico Bucoy, Akelco general manager, the cooperative’s collection efficiency is now close to 95 percent. It is also current on its Napocor and National Transmission Corp. (Transco) payments.

It has also reduced its systems loss to a manageable 14 percent as of the end of 2003.

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Vincent Perez Jr. said a recent memorandum of agreement signed between Akelco and Transco for the sale of sub-transmission assets to the cooperative "is a historic moment for the country‚s cooperatives movement".

Perez said the dramatic turnaround of Akelco "is evidenced by its transformation from a moribund coop to one that is now ready to own and manage its sub-transmission assets."

He lauded the "cooperation between the business sector, the government and Akelco in the bid to provide the people of Aklan and the tourists of Boracay with stable and reliable power supply".

He said Akelco’s feat "is proof that if both private sector and government can get their acts together, we can do the almost-impossible". He noted that prior to the decisive move the change Akelco management and effect a turn-around, few have imagined that Akelco can manage to become a leading electric cooperative within two years.