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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
MALACAÑANG has approved an
interim open access scheme under which large electricity consumers
like manufacturers could enjoy lower power rates, a high-ranking
government official said Wednesday.
“In the desire of government to
lower electricity costs, the Cabinet approved an interim open access
scheme where consumers with an average peak demand of at least one
megawatt can connect directly to power generation firms,” Acting
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto B. Santos told reporters.
The government approved the
interim open access in a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday in Panglao,
Bohol.
Besides big industrial and
commercial firms, an interim open access will benefit consumers as
companies would reduce production costs, Santos said.
Once the open access scheme is
enforced, distribution charges, which run up to 20 percent of
electricity bills, and system losses, could be reduced, the official
said.
The Electric Power Industry
Reform Act (Epira) of 2001 provides for an open access that would
allow consumers to choose their suppliers. But under the law, this
could only be implemented if the government has already privatized
at least 70 percent of its generation assets.
At present, state-run Power
Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. has privatized about
40 percent of the generating and contracted capacity of state-owned
National Power Corp.
With the sale of the Tiwi-Macban
geothermal plant in Albay and the Palinpinon geothermal facility in
Negros Oriental this year, “we can overshoot the 70-percent target
under Epira,” Santos said.
He said the interim open access
scheme still requires approval from the Energy Regulatory
Commission.
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