Filinvest, local community execs ink deal for quick access to financial benefits
OFFICIALS of FDC Misamis Power Corporation (FDC Misamis) and the Municipality of Villanueva in Misamis Oriental (MisOr) recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that will enable the town to have direct access to its financial benefits.
The MOA is for the establishment of trust accounts in compliance with the amended Energy Regulations 1-94 (ER 1-94) of the Department of Energy (DOE).
Through the DOE Department Circular (DC) 2018-08-0021, power generation companies can now transfer financial benefits directly to their respective host communities.
Under the ER 1-94, a policy stipulated in the DOE Act of 1992 and Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA), the community hosting the energy resource and/ or energy generating facility is entitled to a revenue share of one-centavo per kilowatt-hour (P0.01/ kWh) of the total electricity sales.
Of the one-centavo per kilowatt-hour, 50 percent will go to the Electrification Fund (EF), 25 percent for the Development and Livelihood Fund (DLF), and the remaining 25 percent for the Reforestation, Watershed Management, Health and/or Environment Enhancement Fund (RWMHEEF).
“We are very happy with this development because finally what is due to the LGUs under the EPIRA Law and the ER 1-94 will now be implemented immediately,” said FDC Misamis president and chief executive officer Juan Eugenio L. Roxas.
With the streamlined process, host communities can now utilize the fund in realizing development projects.
“It is with great joy that I stand in front of you (today) that we’re finally signing the MOA for the opening of the trust fund,” said Villanueva Mayor Jennie Rosalie Uy.
Uy noted that the ER 1-94 fund is key to fasttrack the progress of the municipality.
She also took the chance to recognized FDC Misamis for its constant support to the projects of the municipality.
“In every development that we have in the LGU, FDC Misamis is our partner, one of our most supportive partners,” Uy said.
Villanueva is among the seven host communities that will benefit from DLF and RWMHEEF.
The six others are the Municipality of Tagoloan, Barangays Sta. Ana, Tambobong and Balacanas as the affected barangays, Misamis Oriental as the host province and Northern Mindanao as the host region.
All of which will follow suit soon.
FDC Misamis is a subsidiary of FDC Utilities, Inc. and a member of the Filinvest Development Corporation. It is the owner and operator of a 3x135-MW circulating fluidized bed coal thermal plant situated within the PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate.
It is one of Mindanao’s biggest baseload power plants and is among the cheapest source of reliable power in the region.