Fund set for typhoon-hit electric cooperatives

With the fury of typhoon Ompong heavily disrupting services of many electric cooperatives in the country, Senate Committee on Energy Chairman Sherwin T. Gatchalian has prodded the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to immediately activate the 1750million emergency capital support that could be funneled to the affected power utilities.

The fund for calamity-stricken ECs had been institutionalized via the Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency Fund (ECERF) that was enacted into law this year.

Given the damage wrought by the brutal weather condition that downed many power utilities over the weekend, Gatchalian noted that the NEA must prepare “for the quick disbursement of funds from the ECERF.”

The lawmaker opined that with ready funding for restoration of electricity service or rehabilitation of the damaged power facilities, the consumers could be spared from suffering longer duration of blackouts. Heavily wrecked areas with typhoon Ompong’s wrath had been the electric cooperatives in Northern and Central Luzon provinces.

With the massive brownouts triggered by the calamity, the utilization of the EC emergency fund will definitely be put to “stringent dry run” – on how fast the government or NEA could act in disbursing the EC-intended emergency fund.

The disaster-intended cash pool, according to Gatchalian, will equip ECs “to undertake immediate restoration and rehabilitation works on power lines and other power infrastructure that may be damaged during the storm.”

The solon-author of the ECERF law asserted that “NEA must work hand-in-hand with the electric cooperatives to ensure the speedy restoration of electricity in these areas.”

He further contended “this is the first big test for the ECERF Law,” thus, he pressed government and the ECs to “put it to good use.”

The 1750-million EC emergency fund is under the implementation domain of the NEA, channeled through the agency’s Quick Response Fund for ECs. The allocation had been carved out from the 17.0-billion budget of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.

The law provides that in case of allotment deficiency, the NEA may “seek for the allocation of a supplementary budget from the NDRRMF, subject to the approval by the President of the Republic of the Philippines.”

It similarly prescribes reporting protocol on the disbursement and utilization of funds, including quarterly reports to the Department of Energy, Joint Congressional Power Commission and Malacañang.