THE National Electrification Administration (NEA) has ordered the Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Daneco)-Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) to cease from collecting bill payments.
NEA said it issued a cease-and-desist order against the Daneco group associated with the CDA and implemented this last November 9, pursuant to pertinent provisions of Republic Act 10531, otherwise known as the National Electrification Administration Reform Act of 2013.
NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong directed the Daneco-CDA to refrain from “further performing any and all acts of management and/or control of the electric cooperative or any portion of its franchise area.”
Customers of Daneco were told to pay their electricity bills only to Daneco-NEA, the court-recognized management backed by the state-run agency.
Masongsong said the two groups operating in Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte have been causing confusion among the member-consumer-owners because both Daneco-NEA and Daneco-CDA are collecting bill payments.
Masongsong said Daneco-NEA settles its obligations with power suppliers and other government agencies. He said Daneco’s accounts receivables ballooned to P2.5 billion. Its collection efficiency also dropped to 60 percent and its system loss rose to 19.53 percent. “This situation had adversely affected the financial viability of Daneco Inc. as evidenced by the July 2018 Monthly Statistical Financial Report, which showed an aggregate amount of P2.283 billion as indebtedness to the power suppliers,” the order read.