Off-grid consumers can’t afford double whammy

The article, “BNPP fund eyed to keep power in 1.3 million rural households” (News, 1/31/23), stirred consumers like me in off-grid areas.

I am a member-consumer-owner of Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative. Most power consumers in our province are in the agriculture sector (farming/fishing). We are still gasping from the effects of the recent onion crisis and hardly coping with the losses we experience from other agricultural challenges. Production costs for all crops and livestock have increased. Prices of fuel and farm inputs have doubled and even quadrupled. A bag of urea, used as fertilizer, increased from P700-P800/bag to P2,800-P3,000/bag. Market conditions for our products have become harsh, especially because of crazy importation plan schedules. Our fishing industry gravely suffers from tensions with China in the West Philippines Sea. These are just some of among many other serious problems that we, consumers of the agricultural sector, have to face. An increase in our monthly power billings will be another big blow to us, and we cannot afford it given our already decreasing income/increasing debt situation.

As stated in the news item, “Napocor (National Power Corp.) is also banking on the Energy Regulatory Commission’s swift approval of its pending petition on the universal charge for missionary electrification (UCME) which, if approved, will give the corporation another P30 billion.” All of us 22.5 million consumers nationwide will be charged this increase now at P0.1739/kwh (15 million consumers of 121 electric cooperatives and local government units plus 7.5 million Meralco consumers).

Any increase per Napocor’s applications with ERC with some as far back as 2014 (they call it GRAM and Icera), will just be “passed on” to us consumers.

Our suggested solution is for the Senate and the House of Representatives to pass a supplemental budget for Napocor to address the P10.239 billion deficit for fuel procurement of SPUG generation sets and payables to new power providers (NPPs-private gencos) as “immediate relief” this 2023. This will assure continuous, reliable 24/7 power supply to this 1.3 million households (almost 6.5 million individuals), and relieve consumers from carrying the additional burden of paying an increased UCME subsidy bill. We cannot endure another “double-whammy” in our island and far-flung areas: reduced power supply that will last only for six to 15 hours per day and increased UCME subsidy bill.

RODOLFO A. PLOPINIO,

MCO-Occidental Mindoro,

immediate past president,

[email protected]