Review Power Rates’

PNoy: Hike In Electricity Charges In Visayas May Be Unwarranted

By GENALYN D. KABILING

April 20, 2012, 7:41pm

MACTAN, Cebu – Worried that higher electricity rates might drive away investors, President Benigno S. Aquino III yesterday appealed to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to review its approval of increase in generation charges in the Visayas.

Addressing the 17th World Electronics Forum and Semiconductors Electronics Industries of the Philip¬pines (SEIPI) 108th General mem¬bership meeting here, the President said he doubts if the 60.60-centavo power increase the board approved for the Visayas was warranted, and pushed instead for reasonable rates to sustain the growth of businesses in the area.

“We are actually focused on the Visayas. We are not sure if the rate increase is warranted,” Aquino said during the business forum at the Shangri-La Hotel here. The President said the executive and Congress will make the appro-priate representations to ERC “to review” the latest round of power rate increases following complaints by the electronics industry. The in¬dustry sees a 10 to 15 percent growth this year and was concerned that the rising electricity costs could dampen development.

The ERC recently allowed the state-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) to raise its generation charges in Luzon, the Visayas and brownout-plagued Mindanao.

The agency approved the increases in generation charges by 69.04 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh) in Luzon, 60.60 centavos per kWh in the Visayas, and 4.42 centavos per kWh in Mindanao.

At present, Napocor’s rate is P5.0160 per kWh in Luzon, P4.0740 per kWh in the Visayas and P2.9321 per kWh in Mindanao.

In the same business assembly, the President vowed to accelerate the implementation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to boost private sector participation in the energy industry and pave the way for competitive rates.
Aquino admitted that he “is not happy” with the pace of the EPIRA implementation, which seeks to priva¬tize government power transmission and generation assets.

He acknowledged that high power rates in the country have been a “major deterrent” to investments. “We are trying to accelerate the process wherein the benefits under the EPIRA law will be realized soonest so that we can have a competitive electricity rate structure in market,” the President said.  article source