NEA, ECs lauded for achieving 14-million consumer connections

2021-03-09

The National Electrification Administration (NEA) and the 121 electric cooperatives (ECs) were lauded by Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles for surpassing the 14-million mark in consumer connections, an important milestone in the government's rural electrification drive. 

"For the past five decades, NEA has been vital in improving the lives of our people by providing total electrification in our rural areas," Nograles said during the NEA-EC Communicators' Conference held via Zoom on March 6, as he congratulated NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong and the ECs for this accomplishment. 

"With the electric cooperatives as the agency’s implementing arm in the mandated mission of rural electrification, even in economically unviable areas, the NEA continues to implement the Sitio Electrification Program (SEP)," the Cabinet Secretary added. 

Data from the NEA Information Technology and Communication Services Department (ITCSD) showed the ECs have connected 522,905 new electricity consumers last year, 14 percent higher than the 460,000 target set by the agency. 

With this, the NEA ITCSD said the total consumer connections have now reached 14.253 million within the franchise areas of 121 ECs nationwide, while the number of unserved consumers in the ECs' coverage areas is now down to 1,550,510 based on the 2015 census. 

Meanwhile, Nograles also thanked the NEA and the ECs for responding to the electricity service requirements of the resettlement sites identified by the National Housing Authority (NHA) for super typhoon Yolanda survivors. 

He specifically mentioned the Pope Francis Village in Tacloban City, which will finally be connected to the power distribution lines of the Leyte II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (LEYECO II). 

The Cabinet Secretary, during the NEA-EC Communicators' Conference last Saturday, also sought the support of the NEA and the 121 electric co-ops nationwide in the campaign against malnutrition and hunger dubbed "Pilipinas Kontra Gutom (PKG)." 

Organized in November last year, PKG is a multisectoral, anti-hunger movement spearheaded by the government's Task Force Zero Hunger chaired by Nograles