THE National Power Corporation (Napocor) needs P10 billion in loans to ensure small power plants would have enough fuel to sustain electricity supply in off-grid areas this year.
The loan will be paid through the additional charges to be imposed under the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)’s universal charge for missionary electrification (UCME).
The ERC has only approved as UCME increase of 4 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh), in contrast to its 15 centavos kWh commitment, saying they are implementing the surcharge in increments to mitigate effects for the main grid customers.
“Band aid solution ‘to, ang long term solution sana either makabit mga isla sa main grid or magkaroon ng sariling supply,” said ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta.
Meanwhile, new power providers (NPP) said they also need to infuse more capital to ensure smooth operations.
“We need to infuse more capital or borrow money from the bank so we can basically pay our fuel supplier… basically supplier because that’s 80 percent of our cost,” said Calvin Genolativa of Occidental Mindoro Consolidated Power Corporation.
For its part, the Association of Isolated Electric Cooperatives (AIEC) asked the public, especially main grid consumers such as Meralco, for understanding, saying their electricity fees would be higher should there be no subsidies for power plants supplying off-grid areas.
“Mas mura po ang presyo ng kuryente sa main grid kaya pakiusap namin konting tulong lang,”AIEC Rene Fajilagutan. (GMA Integrated News)
