SMEC entry into Aleco on track

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. is on track to a formal management takeover of debt-saddled Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco) next year despite attempts of a small group to abort the transition.

Asked about reports about Aleco having a new board of directors wanting to prevent San Miguel’s entry into the electricity cooperative, Albay Governor Joey Salceda and Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said separately that as far as they were concerned, the change in management was on track.

Salceda said via text message that there had not been any new election, which meant there was no change in the board of directors.

“SMEC (San Miguel Energy Corp.) has yet to come in on January 1,” Salceda said.

A number of people had apparently staged rallies in a bid to get other members to abandon the transition with SMEC. “There were maybe 100 people who decided for themselves they were the board members, but as far as I know they are not supported by Aleco members,” Petilla said in a phone interview. Petilla said the disgruntled members failed to take over management of the electric cooperative.

The energy chief also noted that the billing system was now by SMEC, so any forcible takeover of the cooperative’s facility would be futile because the protesters would not know how to manage the new system.

As to whether the Department of Energy would intervene in future disruptions, Petilla said, “The people of Albay, who are the members of Aleco, must defend their own solution. They had lost electricity before and now there is a solution with the entry of SMEC.”

Aleco is the sixth-largest electricity cooperative (EC) in the country but also among those with the largest debt. SMEC has agreed to take over the EC’s debts, invest in modernizing the EC’s system, pay a concession fee and will manage but not own Aleco. Ownership of Aleco remains with the people of Albay.