EPIRA coming up for review

Business World Online
Posted on November 16, 2014 07:09:00 PM

A REVIEW of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001 will follow the discussions of a House panel on the joint resolution allowing the President to take necessary steps to plug the looming power shortage next year, a lawmaker said.

“Immediately after we pass this (joint resolution), we will proceed with EPIRA review,” Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo V. Umali (2nd district), who heads the House Committee on Energy and chairs the House panel of the Joint Congressional Power Commission, said in an interview.

The review of the 13-year-old law, which authorized the transfer of power generation facilities to the private sector, has been tagged as a priority measure by the House leadership.

The EPIRA, which was signed into law as Republic Act 9136 during the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, sought to “restructure” the local power industry by privatizing the assets of the National Power Corp., in a bid to streamline processes and bring down utility prices.

Various proposals pending before the lower chamber seek to amend provisions of the EPIRA, some of which seek the return of all power facilities to the national government, saying it has since failed to protect electricity users from steep power rates.

Party-list Rep. Michael Angelo C. Rivera, who represents electricity consumers in rural areas at the House of Representatives under the 1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy, Inc. (1-CARE) party-list, acknowledged the need to review provisions of the law but said only a few needs to be changed.

“(The review) is needed. Only certain provisions need it, but not all should be amended,” Mr. Rivera said in an earlier interview, adding that returning the power facilities to government is not plausible.

It was the power crisis provision of the EPIRA which President Benigno S.C. Aquino III invoked last September to ask Congress for the authority to contract additional capacities to plug the shortfall in supply and reserves from March to July 2015, as projected by the Department of Energy.

Under EPIRA’s Section 71, the additional authority may be given to Mr. Aquino through the enactment of a joint resolution from both houses of Congress. At present, the two chambers are holding separate deliberations to craft their versions of the resolution outlining the steps that the government can take to address the power lack.

Mr. Umali, however, expressed doubts that the proposed changes to the EPIRA would be enacted into law, given a less-than-lukewarm reception from the industry.

“My dilemma is if the private sector is not supportive, then I run the risk of not getting it approved,” Mr. Umali said in Filipino. “If I am to get it approved in this Congress, the President should certify it as urgent. But if there is opposition most especially coming from the private sector, it will be difficult to obtain the support of the President to certify it as urgent.”

Industry officials have earlier opposed changes to the EPIRA, saying such moves were unnecessary. -- Melissa Luz T. Lopez source