DIGITAL DASHBOARD COMMAND CENTER. BENECO general manager Melchor S. Licoben (R) expresses gratitude for being chosen as a pilot cooperative. The successful integration is intended to serve as a model for other electric cooperatives (ECs) in the country, aiming for nationwide connectivity of all 121 ECs to allow NEA real-time access to their conditions. (Laarni S. Ilagan, BENECO)

BAGUIO CITY – The Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) technical system is now ready to be connected to the National Electrification Administration’s (NEA) Digital Dashboard Command Center (DDCC).

After a series of technical meetings since Monday, NEA representatives confirmed BENECO’s readiness, affirming NEA’s decision to select BENECO as a pilot cooperative for the project.

This evaluation was shared during an exit interview with the BENECO team, led by General Manager Melchor Licoben, along with the Management Information and Communications Systems (MICS) office and the Special Equipment and Metering Office (SEMO) of the network services department.

“Now that we got all the architecture and processes in place, we will now focus on the data and make sure that the right data is fed into the system. We are closely coordinating with the Office of the Performance Assessment to make sure that all data are official,” said Mel Locsin of NEA.

He demonstrated the live connection of BENECO’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), which he termed “SCADA Live,” highlighting its importance to BENECO’s operations.

Locsin introduced the key features of the DDCC, emphasizing its capabilities beyond a simple dashboard.

“This is actually a Performance Management Database (PMDB). You (ECs) can do data analytics and Predictive Analysis eventually,” he explained.

He discussed the importance of data flow and availability for analysis with the team.

Impressed with the DDCC’s data analytics potential, Licoben expressed gratitude for being chosen as a pilot cooperative.

“We truly appreciate na pinili kami ni NEA (NEA’s decision to select us). While sharing data, we are also learning,” he said.

MICS Supervisor Paul Donaal and SEMO Supervisor Mario Calatan, who worked closely with the NEA team, echoed this sentiment and showed enthusiasm for further developing the dashboard.

The DDCC will feature a GIS map, classification color coding, key performance indicators, and an alarms message board receiving data directly from BENECO’s SCADA system.

Locsin compared the alarm system to airport dashboards, continuously displaying outage alerts and other critical information.

The successful integration with BENECO will serve as a model for connecting all 121 electric cooperatives (ECs) in the country to the DDCC, allowing NEA real-time access to their conditions.

“You are first since you already have systems in place,” Locsin told BENECO.