P25-B sought for total electrification by 2022

TACLOBAN CITY, July 13  -- The National Electrification Administration (NEA) is seeking at least PHP25 billion to complete the rural electrification project covering 2.4 million households nationwide.

NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong, in a press briefing here late Thursday afternoon, said the government needs about PHP5.2 billion to realize the project from 2019 to 2022.

“The remaining un-energized areas have problems with accessibility, hence, Electric Cooperatives (ECs) need more budget to install power lines. The minimum requirement to energize a sitio is more than PHP1 million,” said Masongsong, who was here Thursday to confer awards to most improved ECs in the region.

For 2019, the rural electrification initiative will only get PHP1.1 billion or only 21 percent of the annual budget requirement. This year, the program got PHP1.8 billion outlay for 1,800 sitios.

“Due to budget constraints, another option is to encourage private investors to participate in the project,” the NEA chief added.

The electrification program has three strategies – supplying energy to sitio, household electrification, and establishment of mini-grid systems.

Under the sitio program, a community will have access to electricity through the construction of power lines connecting to the main grid while household electrification involves the installation of solar system for each home.

“One alternative is the construction of micro-grid instead of building a line connecting remote communities to the main grid, which is very expensive. We will install local distribution system with a local power plant as a source,” Masongsong said.

NEA admitted that electrification in some areas has been very challenging due to armed conflict, accessibility, and natural and man-made calamities.

Masongsong reminded ECs of their mandate to ensure that the benefit of electricity reaches every household. He also urged ECs to come up with strategies to fast-track efforts in achieving energy access for all by 2022.

"The ways of the past were already proven inadequate to the demands of the country's growing rural economy. We have to catch up, double our efforts and ensure that our services are more than enough to drive the Duterte administration's economic legacy after 2022," the NEA chief said.

Meanwhile, NEA welcomes President Duterte’s recent signing into law of Republic Act 11039 or the Electricity Cooperative Resiliency Fund Law.

This will ensure the immediate rehabilitation of power facilities damaged by natural calamities and relieves ECs the financial burden stemming from the cost of reconstruction, said Masongsong.

The law sets aside PHP750 million from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, which will be released to the NEA Quick Response Fund for proper disbursements to qualified ECs. (SQM/PNA)