Grant of franchise to solar power firm guarantees cheap, clean electricity – solon

Deputy Speaker Arthur Yap on Tuesday said that a bill seeking to grant a franchise to a solar power company is meant to guarantee cheap and clean electricity to barangays nationwide.

He issued the statement as he slammed critics of the measure granting Solar Para sa Bayan Corp. (SPSB), a 100 percent Filipino corporation, a franchise that will enable it to supply huge areas of the country with 24/7 electricity and eventually address the requirements of communities demanding for better electric service.

The Bohol lawmaker, the principal author of the bill that would grant SPSB franchise to “construct, install, establish, operate, and maintain distributable power technologies and mini-grid systems,” appealed to those opposing this consumer-friendly measure not to use the outmoded Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) in preventing new players from providing cheap, reliable power to poor communities through green technologies, which is in step with the Duterte administration’s goal of total electrification by 2022.

Yap explained that the House Committee on Legislative Franchises headed by Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez had ensured that several safeguards in the grant of the SPSB franchise were in place before it had approved the bill for plenary consideration.

Congressmen, headed by Reps. Michael Romero (1Pacman Partyilst) and LitoAtienza (BuhayPartylist), have opposed the committee approval of the franchise bill, saying that it was aimed at granting SPSB wide range of benefits that are grossly unfair to other power corporations operating in the country, especially electric cooperatives.

Yap denied the claims of his two colleagues, saying the proposed franchise include the non-exclusivity of the franchise and the prohibition on its sale, lease, and transfer, said Yap.

“In fact, the bill clears the way for other new players to apply for their own non-exclusive franchises,” Yap said “It is a measure specifically designed to break the existing monopolies of traditional utilities that have otherwise fallen behind in improving the quality of their service.”

Yap said that the hearings conducted by the committee were extensive enough to convince over 100 lawmakers so far to signify their support for the franchise bill.