THE Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) has warned all consumers that only authorized Zamcelco personnel are allowed to reconnect electrical services.
Zamcelco issued the warning after its Energy Recovery Team (ERT) has discovered during its anti-pilferage operations that there are several households physically energized but remained disconnected in the Zamcelco system.
“These cases were primarily found to have resulted from occupants allowing private electricians or unauthorized individuals to reconnect their electricity after their accounts had been disconnected,” Zamcelco said in a statement Saturday, August 15, 2026.
The Zamcelco ERT has discovered that 70 dormant accounts have been illegally reconnected in the system of the cooperative when they pulled out the metering facility of disconnected accounts.
Dormant accounts are those lines that have been disconnected from the Zamcelco system for a period of six months and above.
Zamcelco records showed that there are 41,116 dormant accounts. The cooperative has so far pulled out the 9,818 metering facility of the total dormant accounts.
The cooperative said that consumers must not allow private electricians, contractors, or other unauthorized persons to reconnect their electricity after disconnection.
“Unauthorized reconnection is a violation of Zamcelco rules and applicable laws and may subject the consumer to penalties, including charges for unauthorized use of electricity and other legal consequences,” Zamcelco said in a statement.
Zamcelco also emphasized that consumers do not need to resort to unauthorized reconnection as the cooperative has its official Reconnection Team that is continuously working and doubling its efforts to attend to legitimate reconnection requests and restore services as soon as the necessary requirements have been complied with.
Zamcelco advised consumers, whose electricity has been disconnected, to coordinate directly with cooperative Zamcelco and follow the proper reconnection procedures.
“Do not risk penalties or legal action by allowing unauthorized individuals to reconnect your service,” the cooperative said.
“For your safety, and to ensure a legal and proper electricity connection, always coordinate with Zamcelco,” the cooperative added. (SunStar Zamboanga)