Napocor seeks to recover P7 billion from consumers

Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star) - April 1, 2021 - 12:00am
https://www.philstar.com/business/2021/04/01/2088369/napocor-seeks-recover-p7-billion-consumers

MANILA, Philippines — The National Power Corp. (Napocor) is seeking to recover over P7 billion from nationwide consumers to cover for subsidies used in providing power in off-grid areas in 2019.

In a filing with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the state-run firm is seeking a provisional authority to recover P7.56 billion from the universal charge for missionary electrification (UCME) in 2019.

The amount is proposed to be recovered at a rate of P0.0720 per kilowatt-hour (kwh) for 12 months.

Napocor was only able to collect P8.39 billion from the UCME rate of P0.1518 per kwh, which was not sufficient to cover the total UCME subsidy requirement of P15.95 billion for the year.

“The proposed recovery of the shortfall for 12 months would be reasonable and timely for Napocor to augment its financial requirements and to provide up to date recovery and adjustment of the ensuing years’ subsidy requirements,” the state-run firm said.

Napocor also said the proposed amount to be recovered is already an incurred cost and within the reasonable cost of servicing missionary customers.

It further said the issuance of a provisional authority will “ensure an uninterrupted electricity supply as this would augment the funding requirements given the increasing demand for energy in line with the government’s thrust of economic development in the off-grid areas.”

Under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001, UCME is collected from end-users, which will be used for the electrification of remote communities or areas not connected to the main transmission grid.