Company Profile
A. Brief History
Recognizing the importance of electricity in the development of the province of Ilocos Norte, on July 7, 1971, Governor Elizabeth Marcos Keon placed the province under the “Rural Electrification Program” being undertaken by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 269 by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
On the same date, the Articles of Incorporation of the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative, Inc. was signed. With the full support of the Government Officials spearheaded by Governor Keon, backed by the Provincial Electric Cooperative Team (PECT) as headed by Chairman Eligio Magpantay, the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative, Inc. (INEC) was registered with NEA under NEC Resolution No. 8 on August 10, 1977.
Eight members of the Board of Directors were appointed representing the originally conceived eight eastern towns of the province as envisioned by the incorporators namely: Mr. Oswaldo Parado of Dingras; Mr. Elficer T. Garcia of Banna; Mrs. Magdalena Mabuti of Marcos; Mrs. Juanita Acnam of Nueva Era; Mr. Julian Bayag of Piddig; Atty. Alipio Flores of Sarrat; Mrs. Trinidad Mata of Solsona, and Mr. Jaime Hernando of Vintar. The first General Manager was Col. Teodoro Apostol and the first President was Elficer T. Garcia.
The cooperative began its operation with an initial outlay of Php 15.3 million in materials, a loan from the National Electrification Administration.
The first energization was launched in September 11, 1973 and the first General Annual Meeting was held in 1974 at Dingras.
In 1975, INEC bought the franchises of four private electric plants in Paoay, Bacarra, Currimao and Batac.
In 1977, the cooperative took over the privately-owned Ilocos Norte Electric Company, thus, the electrification of the entire province was left at the hands of INEC.
1978 was a year of struggle for INEC. There was an acute shortage of construction materials and electrical hardwares needed for expansion. Collection was made through bicycles and some consumers paid in kind such as chicken, vegetables, and rice among others. However, house connection never stopped and even cynics were surprised to know that in a short period of time, at least 31,311 houses were lighted in September 1978. For this feat, INEC ranked third among the then 121 electric cooperatives in the country as far as house connection is concerned.
By November 14, 1999, INEC was able to achieve 100% barangay level energization with the energization of Brgy. Barangobong in Nueva Era. 40 years after its incorporation, the cooperative finally achieved total rural electrification down to the sitio level when Sitio Bucarot in the municipality of Adams was energized on May 2, 2012.
On January 24, 2006, NEA issued Certificate of Franchise Number 219 to INEC, to wit, “for the renewal of the franchise granted under NEC Resolution No. 8, dated August 10, 1977 for a period of Twenty Five (25) years from the expiry of its original franchise on August 10, 2027 or until August 10, 2052.”
INEC’s service area covers the whole of Ilocos Norte which is composed of 2 cities, 21 municipalities and 559 barangays with 143,376 member-consumer-owners with 164,550 house connections as of December 31, 2018.
