By: Leila B. Salaverria - 05:16 AM
March 08, 2019
CLEAN AND GREEN Church officials and
clean energy advocates use a solar panel as props during the launch at the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines office of a campaign for
candidates to espouse nonpolluting and affordable sources of energy. —LYN
RILLON
A bicameral committee approved the
final version of the bill that could eventually bring down households’
electricity expenses by nearly P1 per kilowatt-hour, according to Sen. Sherwin
Gatchalian.
This would be achieved through the
use of the P204-billion government share from the Malampaya fund to pay for the
stranded contract costs and debts assumed by the Power Sector Assets and
Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), said Gatchalian, the bill’s main
proponent in the Senate.
This would cut the biggest
components of the universal charge that is passed on to consumers and stop it
from increasing.
Fund use
The Malampaya fund refers to the
government share from the production proceeds of the Malampaya Natural Gas
Project.
Gatchalian estimated that 60 to 70
percent of the Malampaya fund would be used to pay for the stranded costs and
debts assumed by PSALM.
The rest of the Malampaya fund would
be used for energy exploration activities, he said.
“This is the first bill that would
give savings directly to consumers,” Gatchalian said, adding that many are
looking for ways to save given the rising cost of goods.
But the nearly P1 savings per kWh
would not be felt at once as the implementation of the measure would be
staggered.
At present, the stranded debts and
costs are 22 centavos per kWh.
Savings
The 22 centavos per kWh savings
amount to about P50 per month for an ordinary family, he noted.
The bill would have to be ratified
by both the Senate and the House of Representatives in May before it could be
sent to President Duterte for his signature.
Some 16 million households would benefit from
the measure.
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