Gov't releases P1.62B for stable power supply in far-flung areas

(philstar.com) Updated September 02, 2011 04:00 PM


MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) today announced that it has released P1.62 billion to the National Power Corp. (NPC) to boost its capability in providing electricity to far-flung areas in the country.


“The P1.62 billion was immediately released by the government to urgently address the NPC’s capability to provide stable power supply in off-grid areas, some of which have already experienced sporadic brownouts due to fuel supply constraints,” said Budget Secretary Florencio Butch Abad.


Abad said that the urgent release of the fund to the NPC was ordered by President Benigno Aquino III.


He added that the DBM is also processing the release of additional budget for the "sitio electrification project."


Abad said that of the P1.62 billion, P1.32 billion will be used to address the fuel requirements of NPC’s Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG); P162.5 million, which is half of the NPC’s capital expenditure for 2011, for the purchase of spares for SPUG plants; and P140 million for the lease of generator sets for SPUG areas.


He said that the release has been charged against the Malampaya Fund.


A total of P3.6 billion has been released for NPC-SPUG this year, to be offset against the claims of the NPC for reimbursement of its advances in the preservation and maintenance of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).


In February, P2 billion was released for the fuel requirements of the NPC-SPUG. The NPC has claimed for the reimbursement of its advances incurred in the preservation of the BNPP starting 1986 amounting to P4.37 billion as of December 2010.


The SPUG is the missionary electrification arm of NPC that operates 317 generating units with total rated capacity of 147.675 MW in 86 areas. This nationwide operation serves 78 island grids and 8 isolated grids catering 3,330 barangays in 192 municipalities across the country.