The National Electrification Administration plans to amend the categorization process of electric cooperatives to focus on their financial performance.
“I want a reflection of the true state of operations both on the technical and financial management,” NEA administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda said.
“The department that undertakes the categorization and I will be implementing major amendments into the criteria involved because I have to put emphasis on the financial management,” Almeda said.
“Financial management is the bulk for me, because I am taking it from the idea that it is the consumers’ money…It’s in my mandate that I have to protect the money of the consumer-members,” he said.
Almeda said some ECs would likely be affected by the new categorization especially those with unpaid debt with the government and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.
He said some electric cooperatives would likely go down in categorization. “One coop is rated triple AAA, but from the books of PSALM, they have a debt of P1.5 billion,” he said.