BAGUIO CITY: Baguio Rep. Mark Go has filed House Bill 6145 in Congress on Nov. 15, 2022, an 'Act Granting a Legislative Franchise to Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco) to Construct, Install, Establish, Operate and Maintain a Generation and Distribution System for the Conveyance of Electric Power to the End Users in All the Municipalities of the Province of Benguet and Baguio City.' Beneco's 50 years franchise to operate as an electric distribution utility was granted March 20, 1978 and will end on March 20, 2028. 'Granting a legislative franchise to Beneco will ensure the continuous supply and delivery of affordable, efficient, and safe electric power to the people of Baguio City and Benguet province,' Go said in recognition of the efficiency of Beneco in providing stable, safe and affordable power to its consumers. The generation cost of Beneco over the years has been acknowledged as the cheapest for on-grid electric cooperatives (ECs). Beneco was one of the first, if not the first, EC to enter into a bilateral power supply contract with an independent power producer (IPP) right after the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act in 2001.
