Abra keeps power supply as debt deadline changed

BAGUIO CITY—Abra will still see the light after power supplier Aboitiz Power Renewables Inc. (Apri) agreed on Wednesday to give the Abra Electric Cooperative (Abreco) until Dec. 15 to settle its debt of more than P5 million and spare the province of a power cutoff.

In a text message, Ria Calleja, Apri assistant vice president for corporate branding and communication, confirmed that the scheduled disconnection of Abreco on Wednesday was reset following the intervention of the Department of Energy.

“The cooperative has not been fulfilling its obligations. This has been a continuing problem with the cooperative since 2012,” Calleja said.

The province faced the same problem in January 2013 when Apri ended Abreco’s supply contract for reneging on its payments and for issuing unfunded checks, the Apri website said.

But the DOE intervened, convincing Apri to agree to a conditional extension of the contract.

Apri earlier threatened to cut off Abreco’s power on Nov. 17 but agreed to wait until Nov. 18 when the cooperative paid P9.7 million of its P16-million obligation.

“The cooperative failed to pay P5.13 million on Dec. 1. We gave them until Dec. 8 to settle its obligation but it failed to [comply],” Calleja said.

Last month, power consumers in Abra sent a petition to President Aquino, asking him to order the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to take over Abreco.

They also urged the President to review audit reports on Abreco and prosecute people responsible for the cooperative’s alleged mismanagement. Kimberlie Quitasol, Inquirer Northern Luzon