Napocor seeks P4B in additional subsidy

State-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) is seeking to collect roughly P4 billion in additional subsidy to help fund its operations in off-grid, remote islands and ensure adequate supply of electricity.

Napocor president Froilan A. Tampinco said in a briefing that Napocor wants to collect from all electricity consumers connected to the grid another 6 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh) under the universal charge for missionary electrification (UCME).

Should Napocor’s planned petition be approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission, the UCME will increase to almost 18 centavos per kWh from the current 11.63 centavos per kWh.

Tampinco added that Napocor will file for a new UCME amount to reflect more accurately the funding requirements of the SPUG areas, as soon as the Missionary Electrification Development Plan is updated.

Based on the existing MEDP, the UCME was fixed at 4.54 centavos per kWh from 2009 to 2013. However, Napocor may file for additional subsidies to recover any shortfalls incurred in its missionary electrification operations.

Over the next 10 years, Napocor will need as much as P16 billion to put up new generating facilities and transmission assets to provide electricity in the SPUG areas, Tampinco said.

Of this amount, P9.5 billion will be used for power generation projects while another P6.06 billion will be used for construction of transmission assets.