Business World Online
Posted on March 02, 2014 11:02:26 PM
POWER CONSUMERS have been given a reprieve from a universal charge increase that was supposed to have been billed starting January, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said, with National Power Corp. (Napocor) having asked for an implementation delay.
In a Feb. 17 order provided reporters last Friday, the regulator said the collection of an additional P0.0381 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) universal charge for missionary electrification (UCME) would now be done during the "August 2014 billing."
The deferment is a month longer than what Napocor requested last January. The ERC said the state-owned power firm wanted to "mitigate the impact of simultaneous increases of electricity rates and to alleviate the burden of the consumers."
Napocor President Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita, in a telephone interview, yesterday said the company’s board of directors had taken note of recent events such as last year’s Malampaya maintenance shutdown, which has been blamed for a controversial P4.14/kWh Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) rate hike that has been ordered shelved by the Supreme Court.
The ERC’s Feb. 17 order was directed at Napocor, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) and all distribution utilities. Napocor and PSALM were also told to ensure sufficient fuel supplies for covered areas.
The UCME, as provided by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, is imposed on all electricity end users for the purpose of funding the electrification of areas not connected to the main grids. Napocor’s Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) is mandated by the same law to service these areas.
Malampaya’s scheduled maintenance shutdown, which ran from Nov. 11 to Dec. 10, prompted three natural gas power plants in Batangas to use more expensive liquid fuel. These plants supply power to Meralco, the country’s largest distribution utility.
The firm’s P4.15/kWh increase was to have been charged in tranches last December. The Supreme Court, however, issued a 60-day restraining order after party-list legislators and consumer groups filed a complaint.
Meralco, which says it will not benefit from the increase as this will be paid to power generators, has since asked the ERC to recover an additional P5.33/kWh, also to be implemented in stages.
Ms. Cruz-Sta. Rita said Napocor’s board of directors recognized "the need to alleviate the burden of any increase in electricity rates to end users."
"There is also a need to study and find solutions to mitigate the impact of simultaneous power rate increases and the DoE (Department of Energy) suggested the deferment of the of the implementation of UCME recoveries."
Mr. Cruz-Sta. Rita said Napocor’ finances were healthy enough to continue supporting operations in the off-grid areas. Deferment of the increase, he added, means the UCME rate will be maintained at P0.1163/kWh.
The ERC last October granted Napocor’s application to recover P2.57-billion in UCME to cover a 2010 shortfall. The P0.0381/kWh adjustment is be collected over a period of 12 months.
With the deferment, "collection will start in August and will end in July 2015," Ms. Cruz-Sta. Rita said.
Napocor, in its 2012 petition to recover the shortfall, said the increase would "augment its financial requirements and provide up-to-date recovery and adjustment of the succeeding years’ subsidy requirements."
It also said the increase would prevent fuel shortages and the possible shutdown of power plants running in off-grid areas. -- Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano source
The deferment is a month longer than what Napocor requested last January. The ERC said the state-owned power firm wanted to "mitigate the impact of simultaneous increases of electricity rates and to alleviate the burden of the consumers."
Napocor President Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita, in a telephone interview, yesterday said the company’s board of directors had taken note of recent events such as last year’s Malampaya maintenance shutdown, which has been blamed for a controversial P4.14/kWh Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) rate hike that has been ordered shelved by the Supreme Court.
The ERC’s Feb. 17 order was directed at Napocor, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) and all distribution utilities. Napocor and PSALM were also told to ensure sufficient fuel supplies for covered areas.
The UCME, as provided by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, is imposed on all electricity end users for the purpose of funding the electrification of areas not connected to the main grids. Napocor’s Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) is mandated by the same law to service these areas.
Malampaya’s scheduled maintenance shutdown, which ran from Nov. 11 to Dec. 10, prompted three natural gas power plants in Batangas to use more expensive liquid fuel. These plants supply power to Meralco, the country’s largest distribution utility.
The firm’s P4.15/kWh increase was to have been charged in tranches last December. The Supreme Court, however, issued a 60-day restraining order after party-list legislators and consumer groups filed a complaint.
Meralco, which says it will not benefit from the increase as this will be paid to power generators, has since asked the ERC to recover an additional P5.33/kWh, also to be implemented in stages.
Ms. Cruz-Sta. Rita said Napocor’s board of directors recognized "the need to alleviate the burden of any increase in electricity rates to end users."
"There is also a need to study and find solutions to mitigate the impact of simultaneous power rate increases and the DoE (Department of Energy) suggested the deferment of the of the implementation of UCME recoveries."
Mr. Cruz-Sta. Rita said Napocor’ finances were healthy enough to continue supporting operations in the off-grid areas. Deferment of the increase, he added, means the UCME rate will be maintained at P0.1163/kWh.
The ERC last October granted Napocor’s application to recover P2.57-billion in UCME to cover a 2010 shortfall. The P0.0381/kWh adjustment is be collected over a period of 12 months.
With the deferment, "collection will start in August and will end in July 2015," Ms. Cruz-Sta. Rita said.
Napocor, in its 2012 petition to recover the shortfall, said the increase would "augment its financial requirements and provide up-to-date recovery and adjustment of the succeeding years’ subsidy requirements."
It also said the increase would prevent fuel shortages and the possible shutdown of power plants running in off-grid areas. -- Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano source
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