All Barangays in South Cotabato Have Electricity

President Benigno Simeon S. Aquino III commended power distribution utility South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative (Socoteco II) for completing the energization of all 204 barangays within its service area.

Engr. Rodolfo Ocat, Socoteco II general manager, in a statement, said the President specifically lauded the electric cooperative's contribution to the national government's ongoing countryside energization initiatives through the flagship Sitio Electrification and Barangay Line Enhancement Program.

In a message sent to the electric cooperative for its recent 31st annual general assembly, Ocat said the President cited the cooperative "for helping illuminate our straight and righteous path towards a brighter tomorrow."

Socoteco II recently energized 15 communities here and nearby municipalities of Polomolok and Tupi in South Cotabato as part of the program's implementation.

The National Electrification Administration (NEA) earlier earmarked some P6.27 billion for the implementation this year of the Sitio Electrification and Barangay Line Enhancement Program, which had been endorsed by the President as a priority initiative.

The agency said it would use P3.70 billion of its 2012 budget while the national government signified to provide an augmentation of some P2.57 billion for the rural electrification program.

The national government had tapped local electric cooperatives as the main implementers of the program, with the Department of Energy and NEA as the supervising agencies.

Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said Socoteco II was among the electric cooperatives in the country which had completely energized their service areas.

Socoteco II, which is considered as the largest electric cooperative in Mindanao and the second largest in the country, serves this city, the entire Sarangani Province and the municipalities of Tupi and Polomolok in South Cotabato.

"We especially laud Socoteco II for energizing 100 percent of the nine towns, one city, and 204 barangays in its area… while keeping system losses at an average of only 10.99 percent," Almendras said.

Socoteco II was among the power utilities in Mindanao that were recently hit by long rotating brownouts due to a power shortage in the island.

But Ocat said they had kept power outages in area at a minimal level compared to other localities due to its linkup with independent power producers serving the island.

In anticipation of the current energy shortage in Mindanao, he explained that the electric cooperative started looking for new sources of electricity as early as 2010 when it suffered daily outages lasting about nine hours as a result of the drought-triggered depletion of power supplies produced by the National Power Corp.'s hydroelectric plants.

In October last year, Socoteco II signed a power supply agreement with the Aboitiz-controlled Therma Marine, Inc. for a standby augmentation supply of 18-megawatts (MW) in case the foreseen power shortage worsens.

To ensure adequate power supply in the area, the cooperative also signed a power sales agreement with the Alcantara Group's Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) for the provision of 70 megawatts (MW) of power starting 2015.

SEC, which is joint venture between the Alcantara's Conal Holdings Corp. and Thailand's Electricity Generating Public Co., is currently building a 200-MW coal-fired power plant in Maasim town in Sarangani.