(Eagle News) — The Senate has passed on second reading the Murang Kuryente bill.
Under Senate Bill No. 1950, electricity rates are reduced by allowing the use of the net national government share from the Malampaya natural gas project for the payment of the stranded contract costs and stranded debts of the National Power Corporation.
The net national government share shall be remitted to a special trust fund to be administered by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp, which has assumed the Napocor debts, “provided that the amounts herein allocated shall be included in the General Appropriations Act,” the bill said.
The bill said the Department of Budget and Management shall provide a timely release of the amounts allocated and appropriated to the PSALM in accordance with its debt and independent power producer payment schedule.
“When the stranded contract costs, stranded debts and anticipated shortfalls in the court of the payment of such liabilities are fully paid before the termination of the corporate life of the PSALM, the net national government share shall be utilized for the payment of the missionary electrification charge, environmental charge and feed-in tariff allowance; provided that any and all excess in the fund shall accrue back to the special fund used to finance energy resource development and exploitation programs created under (Presidential Decree) 910,” the bill said.
PD 910 mandates that the share of the government from service contracts and agreements be used to finance energy resource development and exploration programs and projects.
Senator Ralph Recto, original author of the bill, said the filing of the bill was based on the policy of the State to “protect public interest by ensuring the provision of reliable, secure and affordable supply of electric power to consumers.”
Universal charge
In co-authoring the bill, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, also the chair of the Senate committee on energy, noted that the “universal charge” was estimated to further increase in the coming years so the remaining debt of P466.2 billion and the cash flow projection of PSALM could be paid off.
Gatchalian said there was therefore the need to collect an accumulated universal charge of P0.8600 per kilowatt hour from 2020 to 2026.
“This means a total additional charge of P172 per month for an average household – money that could have been used to buy two to three additional kilos of rice,” he said.
According to Gatchalian, the tapping into the Malampaya Fund for the payment of the stranded contract costs and stranded debts would result in savings of P169.48 per month and P2,033.76 per year, enough for a household to buy an extra sack of rice.
The total collections of the Malampaya Fund as of Dec. 2017 stood at P204 billion.
“Towards this end, the State shall implement policies and programs to ensure transparent and reasonable prices of electricity to consumers by minimizing the universal charges for stranded costs and stranded debts,” the bill said.
Other signatories to the committee report include Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the finance committee, Senators Richard Gordon, Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, Manny Pacquiao, Chiz Escudero, Risa Hontiveros and Koko Pimentel.
Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also signed the report as ex-officio members.
Ejercito and Angara have manifested to be made co-authors of the measure.
