COMPLAINTS ARE mounting over the continued voltage fluctuations and power outages here and electric consumers are outraged by the poor services of the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (ZAMCELCO), saying not a single day passes without problems.
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| A light pole with old ZAMCELCO electric meters. (Zamboanga Post) |
Since 2019 after Crown Investments Holdings, Inc. and Desco Inc. took over and bailed out the heavily-indebted and poorly-managed ZAMCELCO for P2.5 billion, the problems are still the same and residents continue to suffer as they did the past several decades. And all these predicaments add up to the stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to the residents.
ZAMCELCO has been blaming its
problems to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and sometimes the
electricity supplier Western Mindanao Power Corporation (WMPC) which is being
run by Alto Power Management Corporation, a partnership between Alsons
Consolidated Resources, Inc. through Conal Holdings Corporation and Toyota
Tshusho Corporation of Japan.
Power consumers complained that
the frequent voltage fluctuations and brownouts not only are a pestering
problem for them, but the surge of electricity had destroyed their
appliances.
One resident said she has a
collection of at least 3 air conditioners which broke down due to voltage
fluctuations over the past years, and repairing them was more expensive than
buying a new unit. “Worst, that’s all I can say,” she said, referring to the
services of the electric cooperative then and now.
A community page on Facebook,
the ZAMCELCO Consumers Complaint Page, is literally overflowing with
complaints, and expletives from frustrated residents. The official ZAMCELCO
Customer Service Department is the worst, according to cooperative members, who
said that nobody was answering their phone calls.
“Apaga sindi pa...nuway gayot
kamo keber keda Malo maga gamit del vivientes,” commented Danval Bernard on the
comment section of the ZAMCELCO Consumers Complaint Page.
Rochard Tarroza said: “Hinde
gayod completo el dia si hinde pwede ase black out!”
“Zamcelco cosa ya tamen el
problema? Na servicio di inyo mucho problema y nesecita entende el mga
consumer, pero na payment hende man kame sa pwede reclama kay todo di amun lang
siempre el culpa,” said Eveline Garcia.
Allan Barros also wrote: “Amo
ya se el style del CrownDesco pati Zamcelco pamparonadas y buluk. Amo ya se el
Nuevo Zamboanga.”
Residents also complained that
ZAMCELCO billed them more than what they are supposed to pay. Electric
consumers resorted to social media in airing their complaints, many angry over
what they claimed were over billing or overcharging imposed by the electric
cooperative.
Angry consumers accused the
cooperative of taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic. The sudden hike in
electric charges came despite frequent daily power outages and voltage
fluctuations.
Glenda Banalo also filed her
complaint and said: “Hello Zamcelco, chene io reklamo porkawsa na diamon metro
na hinde ya klaro el mga numero. Kilaya pwede saka sakto usada de koryente c
hinde ya klaro el mga numero? Uno pa grande gayot diamon bill more than 900
hundred kosa lng man diamon aplliances tv na old model, 3 electric fan, luz de
8 watts lng ta usa, radio and cp lng. How come ancna de grande el bill? Kilaya
kel ta man read el meter reader para saka sakto? Guessing the numbers? O hala
ay dale to attention mio reklamo.”
The ZAMCELCO Consumers
Complaint Page was flooded with photos of electric bills showing unreasonable
increases in charges.
Many house
owners complained that they were overbilled by ZAMCELCO after it imposed
back-billing to many residential accounts following a massive installation of
new electric meters. Back-bill is a catch-up bill sent when a power
consumer is incorrectly charged for energy usage. It covers a longer
period than the usual billing cycle and will likely be for a larger than usual
amount.
This was confirmed by ZAMCELCO
and its general manager, Gannymede Tiu said that “in the past several months
until December 19, we conducted massive installation of kilowatt-hour meters to
more than 10,000 consumers that had no installed meters for so many years
back.”
Tiu said many residential
accounts here have no electric meters and ZAMCELCO only billed them through
“averaging” or minimum amount compared to their actual electricity
usage. He added that back billing of customers is to ensure all power
consumers pay for the utilities they use. “That is the reason for the
ZAMCELCO back-billing,” he said.
Following the outcry, ZAMCELCO
eventually adjusted the overbilling.
In 2012, Zamboanga also
suffered from severe power curtailment – as much as 6 hours a day and at worst,
14 hours or more. And ZAMCELCO - whose manager then was George Ledesma – blamed
the power crisis on the El Niño weather phenomenon and maintenance shutdown of
hydro and coal-fired power plants in Mindanao.
ZAMCELCO could only wait for the construction of the 100-megawatt coal-fired
power plant of Alsons Power Holdings which was set to begin operation in 2016
in Barangay Talisayan. But Alsons failed to start building its facility and
cited many reasons for the long delay - from the failed Moro rebellion here in
2013 to the P900-million enhancement program it was demanding from ZAMCELCO as
an assurance it could pay them for the stable supply of electricity, and now
the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even today, Alsons has not finished its coal-fired power plant here and
ZAMCELCO said it would not purchase electricity from Alsons or what it is
called now the San Ramon Power, Inc. due to its previous demand from WMPC.
The WMPC previously cut off
power supply to ZAMCELCO after it refused to pay its overdue account
amounting to P460 million. ZAMCELCO through Crown Investments Holdings, Inc.
and Desco Inc. claimed that WMPC had over-billed the electric
cooperative since 2015 by P440 million and is demanding a refund. However, WMPC
denied the allegation and ZAMCELCO eventually paid in part or in full of what
it owed the electric supplier. (Zamboanga Post)
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