Draft:Northern Davao Electric Cooperative

Northern Davao Electric Cooperative, Inc., also known as NORDECO, is an electric cooperative in the Philippines serving most of Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro.

Origin
NORDECO was established as the Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative, Inc. or DANECO on September 24, 1971 initially providing electricity to parts of the then-undivided Davao del Norte.

2010s intra-cooperative dispute and renaming
A conflict between two factions within the electric cooperative started in 2012 due to accusations of mismanagement with consumers confused whether to pay their bills with a faction linked with the National Electrification Administration or the faction registered with the Cooperative Development Authority. The National Electrification Administration assumed control over the electric cooperative on March 1, 2017 through the activation of Task Force Duterte Northern Davao Power that was created to resolve its legal woes. During the task force's management of the electric cooperative, bill payment collection improved and its system loss was reduced from twenty-three percent of its total supply to between 15 and 17 percent. The electric cooperative was renamed from Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative to Northern Davao Electric Cooperative in 2019 with the two factions reconciling in the same year.

Davao Light franchise expansion attempts
An initial attempt to expand the franchise area of the Davao Light and Power Company and subsequently replace NORDECO as the energy provider for Davao del Norte including the Island Garden City of Samal and Maco in Davao de Oro was opposed by the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association as part of the latter's dissent against private entities aiming to expand the coverage of their respective franchises in areas already served by electric cooperatives. The attempted modification was approved during the 18th Congress but was vetoed by president Bongbong Marcos in July 2022 due to "legal and/or constitutional challenge due to the apparent overlap and possible infringement into the subsisting franchise, permits, and contracts previously granted to North Davao Electric Cooperative." The veto was lauded by the National Electrification Administration and the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association.

After the July 2022 veto, subsequent bills to displace NORDECO as the energy supplier in Davao del Norte and parts of Davao de Oro in favor of Davao Light were filed in the House of Representatives during the 19th Congress. Three such bills arranged for the expansion of Davao Light's franchise to parts of Davao del Norte currently served by NORDECO and Maco in Davao de Oro while one bill only limited the coverage of such changes to the Island Garden City of Samal. Davao Del Norte governor Edwin Jubahib gave his support to one proposal stating that if it becomes law, it will be "a major milestone for the province of Davao del Norte as the expansion of the energy services provided by Davao Light will bring about a positive change to the lives of our constituents, providing them with reliable and efficient power supply" while NORDECO through its lawyer Jeorge Rapista contest such proposals arguing that "[the] Constitution does not allow laws that impair contracts" and that extant agreements with the electric cooperative will be weakened to a great extent should such bills be approved

2023 Davao del Norte outages
Areas in Davao de Oro under NORDECO's franchise were affected by recurring power interruptions in early 2023 with some residents and government officials of the Island Garden City of Samal commenting that such outages started in 2016 adversely affecting tourism and potential investors. Such outages among other grievances prompted some consumers in Tagum City to protest against the cooperative on March 13, 2023 with calls for NORDECO to be replaced by Davao Light.