Power measures unburden consumers
The authors of the Murang Kuryente Act and Anti-Obstruction of Powerlines Act lauded President Duterte for signing into law measures establishing sustainable and affordable electricity supply in the country.
Senate Energy Committee Chairman Sherwin Gatchalian and House Energy Committee Chairman Lord Allan Velasco said their enactment guarantee the lower cost and stable supply of electricity and will help the country develop a reliable, sustainable and affordable energy supply.
Gatchalian said affordable energy will be attainable with the passage of the Murang Kuryente Act.
“I thank President Rodrigo Duterte. At last, we will end the burden on each power consumer who pays for the debt of NAPOCOR (National Power Corporation) which was passed on to the people through the universal charge in stranded debts (UC-SD) and stranded contract costs (UC-SCC) which was part of the charges in our electricity bills,” Gatchalian said.
The stranded debt relates to the unpaid financial obligations of the NAPOCOR that have not been liquidated by the proceeds from the sale of its assets. The stranded contract costs pertain to the excess of the contracted cost of electricity provided by independent power producer contracts over the actual selling price of the contracted energy output.
Gatchalian said as much as P172 may be cut from each family that consumes 200kWh per month as the bill becomes law.
“The passage of this bill is a big victory for each Filipino consumer towards affordable electricity for all,” the Senator said.
Velasco said the Murang Kuryente Law was made possible by setting aside P208 billion from the net national government share of the Malampaya fund to cover the stranded contract costs and stranded debts levied each month on consumers as part of the universal charge.
The Marinduque solon also welcomed the passage of the Anti-obstruction of Power Lines Act which seeks to prohibit the introduction of plants and structures within the right-of-way limit of power transmission lines to ensure uninterrupted power supply.