Monday, April 20, 2020

Electric coops pitch in free power

April 17, 2020 03:40 AM By Gabbie Parlade
https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2020/04/17/electric-coops-pitch-in-free-power/

Around three million households stand to benefit from electric cooperatives’ initiative to waive electric bills among consumers living below the poverty line who consume not more than 50 kilowatts per hour under the Pantawid Liwanag program.

In a statement yesterday, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said that the program is part of a corporate social responsibility led by the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. in coordination with the National Association of General Managers of Electric Cooperatives.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles earlier mentioned that electricity bills of these select consumers will be free of charge for the billing period of March to April 2020.

The NEA clarified that the funding for the program will come from the own initiatives of the electric cooperatives (EC), which are sourced from budgets of canceled institutional activities due to the enhanced community quarantine.

“Funding for the implementation of Pantawid Liwanag will depend on the financial capability of our EC whose definition of lifeline consumers vary, as determined by their respective managements, within the parameters set by our state regulatory agencies,” the NEA said.

The NEA also assured that this program will not affect the financial obligations for transmission providers of power suppliers.

“MERALCO and other privately-owned power distribution companies are not involved in this, contrary to the reports of some media entities that have circulated online,” it added.

Other measures were also implemented by the NEA to aid in the financial impact of the government lockdowns such as issuing an extension of payment for all electric consumers and payment of electric cooperatives towards power transmission companies.

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