November 18, 2018 |
10:43 pm
THE Energy Regulatory
Commission (ERC) and the National Electrification Administration (NEA) will
team up to expedite the approval of the capital expenditure (capex) projects of
the country’s electric cooperatives.
“This has been
perfected through the years,” said NEA Administrator Edgardo R. Masongsong in a
statement after the holding of a meeting among officials of the two government
agencies, referring to the process of preparing and evaluating the capex
proposals.
The meeting, which was
led by him and ERC Chairperson Agnes T. Devanadera, discussed the adoption of a
planning tool called enhanced integrated computerized planning model, or
e-ICPM, according to Mr. Masongsong, the administrator of the country’s 121
electric cooperatives (ECs).
Mr. Masongsong said the
program, originally called ICPM, had been started by NEA in early 2000s and had
undergone several improvements through the years.
Luisa Hernandez,
manager of NEA’s rural electrification project planning and development
division, said e-ICPM is a homegrown software that helps ECs in drafting their
two-year work plan, which includes their capital expenditure projects.
“The e-ICPM is a
computer software designed to integrate and harmonize most of the data required
from the ECs using MS Office Platform and Visual Basic,” she said.
The program is made up
of four components: load forecast, technical, financial, and institutional
factors.
ERC Commissioner
Josefina Patricia M. Asirit described e-ICPM as a “good tool,” noting that the
commission was part of the original group to “ensure regulatory requirements
were considered.”
Before the meeting, NEA
officials had a meeting with ERC commissioners in March 2017 to discuss the
possible partnership to adopt e-ICPM as a tool for evaluating the ECs’ capital
expenditure application.
The latest meeting also
discussed other concerns, including the harmonization of NEA-ERC definitions and
formulas, and the NEA business intelligence Technology system. The meeting was
held earlier this month at the NEA office in Diliman, Quezon City. — Victor
V. Saulon
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