Company History

The South Cotabato I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SOCOTECO-I) was incorporated and registered as a non-stock, non-profit membership electric cooperative on August 31, 1971 under the provisions of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) Act (RA 6038) as amended by Presidential Decree 269. It became the 12th electric cooperative to be registered by NEA.

SOCOTECO I initially covered the six towns of Koronadal, Banga, Surallah, Norala, Tampakan and Tantangan. A core group, known as the Provincial Electric Cooperative (PEC) Team, composed of Antonio A. Joseph (Koronadal), Fernando G. Exmundo (Banga), Antonio L. Villanueva (Surallah), Feliciano L. De la Cruz (Norala), Teodorico N. Josol (Tampakan) and Atty. Pio B. Mariñas (Tantangan) was created by the provincial government to oversee the initial steps of establishing the program. These incorporators also served as the cooperative’s Interim Board of Directors (BOD) and were considered the very foundation of the electrification program in the province. Capt. Celestino F. Desamito was designated as Officer-In-Charge/Acting General Manager.

On August 2, 1976, NEA designated Efren D. Bautista as Acting General Manager. Under his management, headquarters and substation construction work sped-up. The turn-over ceremonies of the deed of donation of the site by the then Gov. Sergio Morales and family took place on May 7, 1977. On August 1, 1977, the cooperative officially took over the facilities and operations of the Marbel and Banga Electric Plants. With the transfer were 11 employees and 2,592 consumers. Mass hiring of employees went underway. Personnel held office in various locations-the Boy Scouts building in Alunan Avenue ,Gerodias Bodega in Bo. 2, Patawaran Building in Koronadal – before construction of the headquarters at Matulas, Koronadal was completed on June 23, 1979.
Certificate of Franchise was granted to SOCOTECO-I on September 5, 1979. The certificate of franchise states that the cooperative is authorized to operate an electric light and power service for a period of fifty (50) years beginning September 5, 1979.
Today, SOCOTECO-1 Main Office is homed in Brgy. Morales, City of Koronadal and ensures that all services are brought closer to the member-consumer-owners. More so, to achieve efficient and effective delivery of services. These all have been through continuous innovation and improvement to achieve customer satisfaction and delight.