Utility Watch · Albay
ALECO supplies all 18 cities and municipalities of Albay and publishes its interruption notices on one Facebook page and nowhere else. Once a post is buried there is nothing to search. This page keeps them, alongside outages residents reported, and says plainly which is which.
The franchise map
Every one of the 18 cities and municipalities in Albay is served by exactly one of these, checked against the PSGC list both ways.
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| Utility | Cities and municipalities | LGUs | Connections | Regulator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALECO Albay Electric Cooperative |
Bacacay, Camalig, Daraga, Guinobatan, Jovellar, Legazpi, Libon, Ligao, Malilipot, Malinao, Manito, Oas, Pio Duran, Polangui, Rapu-Rapu, Santo Domingo, Tabaco, Tiwi | 18 | 186,911 | NEA-EC |
Publishing channel
A utility with no check date has not been looked at yet, and the table says that instead of guessing. Every graded row carries the page it was read from.
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| Utility | Channel | What was there |
|---|---|---|
| ALECO | Facebook only checked 2026-08-20 |
A Facebook page plugin embedded on its website, nowhere on the open web. The notice text never reaches ALECO’s own server, it renders inside an iframe from facebook.com, so there is nothing on the site to read or search. Its own top menu carries ADVISORY and POWER INTERRUPTION, and both point at a page that returns 404 with the words Coming Soon. Largest utility in the region by connections, most closed channel of the three checked so far. source |
Announced
Copied by hand from the official announcements, with the control number kept so each one can be checked and so an amendment can be matched to it.
Control no. SIAUG2026-118 · scheduled
21 and 22 August 2026
Legazpi City. Brgys. Taysan, Mariawa, Maslog, Homapon, Bagacay, and Poriton of Banquerohan
Daraga. Brgys. Canarom, Mayon, San Ramon, Villahermosa, Bigao, San Rafael, Nabasan, San Vicente Grande, Ibaugan
Stated reason: momentary shutdown of the Taguntong recloser to facilitate the isolation and reconnection of the Banquerohan DS
Legazpi City. Brgys. Banquerohan (portion), Imalnod, Bagacay, Cagbacong, San Francisco, Buenavista
Manito. All coverage area
Stated reason: continuation, restoration of distribution lines from single phase to three phase from Brgy. Banquerohan to Brgy. Cawayan, Manito
Control no. EIAUG2026-00304143 · unscheduled
19 August 2026, about 10 minutes
More or less 10 minutes. The announcement gives no start time, so none is recorded.
Stated reason: reconnection of a cut off primary riser at Gogon High School
As published. Two barangay names appear for what is likely the same partial area, Banquerohan (portion) and Poriton of Banquerohan. Both are kept as written. The first advisory does not say whether the early window applies on both dates, so that is recorded as unresolved rather than guessed.
Reported by residents
One report. It is not confirmed and it is not presented as an area outage, because one household is not one.
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| Record | Area | Problem | Status | Out from | Back | Observed | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALB-0001 | Malinao | Transformer damage | Restored Unconfirmed | 7:00 PM | about 10:00 AM | about 15 h | none found |
Unconfirmed means one household. A record becomes confirmed at five or more reports from three or more households within 500 metres and 60 minutes. This one is a single observation and stays labelled that way. The calendar date is still to be confirmed and the times are approximate as reported.
Checked 20 August 2026
We looked, so this is a record of what was there on that date rather than an impression.
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| Where we looked | What was there |
|---|---|
| Website, Advisory then Power Interruption | A placeholder page reading “We will be uploading new content here.” No advisories are published there. The menu item exists, the page behind it does not. |
| Website, ERC Notice and Order | A heading with nothing under it. |
| Website, right hand column | A Facebook page plugin, 340 by 500 pixels, served from facebook.com. The post text never reaches ALECO’s own server, so there is nothing on the site to read, search or archive. |
| Website, Rates | Actually published, and current. July 2026 residential mainland at P13.0426 per kWh, plus 50 monthly generation charge and generation mix documents. So the website is maintained. Interruption notices are not the thing being maintained. |
| Published hotlines | 0908 677 3393 on Smart and 0915 995 3455 on Globe, both listed on their site. |
The rates page is the tell. A website that keeps 50 months of generation charge documents current is a maintained website. The power interruption page on the same site has never been filled in. That is a choice about what to publish, not a capability problem.
Context, sourced and dated
Two facts side by side, each with its own source line, and no conclusion drawn. The reader connects them.
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| Date | What was reported | Attributed to | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Jul 2026 | Liabilities above P6 billion, against roughly P3 billion before the 2014 privatization | General Manager Wilfredo Bucsit, in Bicol Mail reporting by Manuel T. Ugalde | news |
| 10 Jul 2026 | P1.2 billion rehabilitation allocation under the General Appropriations Act. About P400 million released for Third District substations, P800 million for other districts | Bicol Mail | news |
| 10 Jul 2026 | Rep. Carlos Loria opened privatization talks with Meralco. Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr., LGU officials and consumer groups oppose, favouring completion of the rehabilitation first | Bicol Mail | news |
| 03 Aug 2026 | Debt put at P5.7 billion. Rates P18 per kWh under private management 2014 to 2022 against P13 after NEA assumed control. System losses 40 per cent and collection efficiency below 50 per cent under the previous operator. P129 million paid down since | Partners for Affordable and Reliable Energy, press release | advocacy |
| 05 Oct 2022 | The concession with SMC Global Power, operating as Albay Power and Energy Corp, was terminated by a vote of the members, with reversion set for no later than 25 February 2023. A March 2021 audit found system loss above the ERC cap, collection efficiency well below the NEA standard, and insufficient cash to meet maturing obligations | BusinessWorld | news |
Two of these are advocacy, not reporting. They are labelled that way in the last column and they are kept because the figures they carry are on the record and can be checked. Labelling the source is the whole job.
Method
What is still missing, and the number each one is waiting on. Albay has one record, which is why almost all of these are still off.
Needs 5 or more restored records. One record would be itself wearing a statistic’s name.
needs 5 restored · have 1
Needs the same barangay to appear more than once.
needs a repeat · have none
Needs a total outage count. We only know about the ones somebody reported, so there is no denominator yet.
needs 30 days of reports
The control number carries the type, SI for scheduled and EI for emergency, so this becomes countable as soon as there are enough advisories to count.
needs 3 months
Off until reports are dense enough to show barangay shapes. Never at house level, at any zoom.
needs report density
These need customers-interrupted counts per feeder, which only the cooperative holds. Filed figures requested from the ERC.
requested under FOI
How to argue with this page. Every figure carries the source it came from and the date it was read. No motive is inferred: if an announcement states no reason, the record says not stated. Public social posts count as corroboration, never as a household. Anything here can be disputed by anyone, including the cooperatives, through corrections.