Gov’t allots P590M to power up remote areas

The Department of Energy and the National Electrification Administration have earmarked an initial P590 million this year to provide electricity to another 833 remote sitios (villages) in the country.

According to NEA, the government has been pushing for the sitio electrification program, which aims to provide electricity to 90 percent of sitios in the Philippines by 2017—part of the Aquino administration’s thrust to invest in rural areas.

According to Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras, the government is even willing to raise the budget for rural electrification to anywhere between P2.5 billion and P5 billion for 2012 alone, depending on the electric cooperatives’ capacity to complete the projects.

Also, the DOE and the NEA reported that, in 2011, they were able to provide electricity access to 1,520 sitios within a record period of just 90 days.

This P814-million rural electrification project, which was carried out only in the last quarter of 2011, is now benefiting over 30,000 households.

According to NEA, the government, in partnership with the electric cooperatives, was able to construct 2,727 kilometers of lines; erected 20,709 poles; installed 977 transformers; installed 30,000 kilowatt-hour meters; and connected 60,000 initial bulbs in remote areas nationwide.

This accomplishment was higher than the original target of 1,410 sitios for the period.

Almendras noted that the renewed push to provide access to electricity, especially in remote areas, was among the goals of the Aquino administration, which hoped to push “money into the rural areas.”