Electric co-ops laud ERC for power rate cut

The Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC) lauded yesterday the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for working out a way to reduce electricity cost to electric cooperatives as well as to consumers.

APEC said the provisional authority which APEC gave to 28 electric cooperatives allowed them to implement rate cuts averaging 19 centavos per kilowatthour (kWh).

The reduction results from the savings brought about by the condonation of the loans owed by the electric cooperatives to the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and other government agencies.

"APEC is delighted with this development. This was the vision of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), the proper implementation of which APEC lobbied hard for. We lobbied for it because we have always believed that proper implementation of EPIRA is necessary in order to have a successful rural electrification program, which will truly benefit the rural poor," APEC representative Sunny Rose Madamba said.

Section 60 of the EPIRA or Republic Act No. 9136 provides that all outstanding financial obligations of electric cooperatives to the NEA and other government agencies incurred for the electrification program in the rural areas, shall be condoned and these shall be assumed by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).

In turn, ERC will ensure a reduction in the rates charged by electric cooperatives commensurate with the resulting savings due to the removal of the amortization payments of the cooperatives’ loans.

APEC said rates charged by electric cooperatives nationwide may still be reduced by an average of 21 centavos per kwh.