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SUNDAY, 19 JUNE 2011 19:00 PAUL ANTHONY A. ISLA
HOUSEHOLDS with a monthly power consumption of less than 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) might have to wait a little while before they could reap the benefits of Congress’s proposal to extend the lifeline-rate subsidy.
This, after Francis Saturnino Juan, Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) executive director and spokesman, said the commission is still waiting for the anenactment of the bill into law.
“I have not heard any news about it, and I’m not familiar with its current status. But once signed into law, the existing subsidy program will remain as it is, unless Congress revises the existing lifeline-rate program,” Juan said.
And if there are revisions, Juan said the commission would have to approve a different lifeline-rate program to be implemented by the distribution utilities.
He said they will need to review the existing lifeline-rate program, and that they will adopt any changes on its implementing rules and regulation.
The current lifeline-rate program, as mandated in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2011, is set to expire on June 26.
Under the current setup, customers with a monthly consumption of 0 to 20 kWh get a 100-percent discount, while those using 21 to 50 kWh, 51 to 70 kWh and 71 to 100 kWh a discount of 50 percent, 35 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
Customers consuming more than 100 kWh pay an additional P0.0761/kWh, which is used to subsidize the lifeline consumers who are using less than 100 kWh.
Juan said they have yet to see the bill proposing to extend the lifeline-rate program, since they haven’t received a copy of it yet.
“However, we have heard from Congress that they have already approved, but we’ll just wait for the action of President Aquino. And we will just abide by what is mandated in the law,” he said.
Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras earlier said the Department of Energy has agreed to submit its proposal to extend the lifeline-rate subsidy to the House Committee on Energy as soon as possible.
“We recently met with the House Committee on Energy. It agreed that we submit our proposal for prioritization given the expected deadline in June this year,” Almendras said.
(Paul Anthony A. Isla)
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