Napocor exec: Power woes threaten off-grid areas sans extra funding

National Power Corp. (Napocor) President and Chief Executive Officer Fernando Martin Roxas says off-grid areas may suffer power issues, especially during the election period, if it fails to secure P11.5 billion by March 2025. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — An official from the National Power Corp. (Napocor) said off-grid areas may suffer power issues, especially during the election period, if it fails to secure P11.5 billion by March of next year.

“For 2025, we need P11.5 billion to be approved. Otherwise, each billion of the deficit would result in about 2.1 hours of no power. We won’t be able to buy any fuel,” Fernando Martin Roxas, Napocor president and chief executive officer, told reporters on the sidelines of the Enlit Asia 2024 energy conference on Wednesday.

Aside from possible loan agreements, he said that they could get the additional funding if the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approves its application for Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) power plants to impose higher rates.

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Napocor currently operates 272 SPUG power plants across 35 provinces. SPUG provides electricity to areas not linked to the main transmission grid, with their operations mostly powered by diesel-fired generators.

“If ERC would not allow us to collect, we have no choice. Otherwise, we will also curtail (supply) and that’s bad in an election year,” Roxas said.

“I already sent a memo to the DOE (Department of Energy) telling them that if we don’t get an approval, we will have no more money to pay by March 2025 and we will start cutting operations,” he added.

The Napocor executive stressed DOE’s role in ensuring its application could advance at the ERC, especially now that it just welcomed a new officer-in-charge following the suspension order against ERC chairman Monalisa Dimalanta.