Palaweños voiced strong opposition on Thursday to recent power price increases in Palawan, particularly targeting the National Power Corporation’s proposed hike in the subsidized approved generation rate (SAGR).
Representatives from the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) personally learned this on April 11 at the Palawan Electric Cooperative (PALECO) gym.
They addressed inquiries from concerned stakeholders and MCOs in Palawan regarding the proposed increase in the subsidized approved generation rate (SAGR), set at ₱1.208 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for residential connections and ₱2.6588/kWh for commercial and industrial connections.
Several members of the Palawan Electric Member-Consumer-Owners (PEMCO) expressed their disapproval of the SAGR, which, if approved, would raise the SAGR charge on the PALECO bills from ₱7/kWh to ₱8.5982/kWh in residential connections and ₱10.0488/kWh in commercial connections.
Buddy Tinay, a member of PEMCO, said that the ERC should not approve the said proposal.
“Isa lang naman ang bottomline—pupunta sa consumer ang magbabayad. Halos lunod na kami doon sa EPSA ng PALECO. Ang [total] per kilowatt namin ay ₱15.48 centavos. Kahit na tourist capital of the Philippines kami, hindi lahat ay nakikinabang sa turismo, hindi lahat ng tao dito sa Palawan ay mayaman,” Tinay said.
Tony Cabrestante, another member of PEMCO, also opposed NAPOCOR’s claim that the average consumer only spent 4% of their monthly household income on power.
“Hindi totoo yan. We need to have a copy of that study supporting your claims na four percent lang ng income ng mamamayang Palaweño ay for power. It could even go as high as 10 percent,” he said.
Ma. Annabel Versoza, manager of the Revenue Management Department for NAPOCOR, restated their claim, saying that that four percent was a general statistic used by NAPOCOR on all the cooperatives nationwide, as it was based on the national index computed by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on household income.
Versoza reminded those present that the NAPOCOR’s ₱1.208 increase was only a small part of the SAGR that PALECO charged, as they also had other suppliers that had their own SAGRs on the bill.
“Pag 100 [kilowatts] ang consumption ninyo, times 100, that’s 100 pesos. (…) Hindi yan diretso sa inyo sinisingil, sinisingil namin yan sa PALECO. Si PALECO ay maraming supplier. [Universal charge] iyon. (…) Meron siyang universal supplier, may mura, may mahal, so yung generation ninyo, although SAGR naman lahat, kaya lang meron kasi kayong supplier,” Versoza stated.
Other MCOs, such as those from the business sector, contended that the average Palaweño power consumer’s experience was different than the national level, and expressed their prayer that the ERC disapprove of NAPOCOR’s proposed SAGR.
Catherine Maceda, commissioner for the ERC, said that NAPOCOR was not the sole power supplier for Palawan. She stated that NAPOCOR’s policy was to act as a temporary power supplier until electric cooperatives could find new power producers (NPPs) to replace their plants.
“Hindi din sa pagdedepensa sa NPC. Sa amin nga ay hirap na hirap na silang sumagot. Siguradong hindi naman nila kasalanan ito. Marami nang nangyayari sa ibang lugar na wala nang control ang NPC. Ang Palawan, maraming nang NPP (…) Sila na ang nagsusupply ng kuryente,” Maceda said.
Palawan currently has eight off-grid power plants managed by NAPOCOR, which are paid through PALECO, the sole electric cooperative in the province. PALECO has three suppliers for the main grid: Palawan Power Generation, Inc. (PPGI), DMCI Power Corporation, and Delta P, the latter of which currently charges the true cost of generation due to their emergency power supply agreement (EPSA).
Furthermore, Maceda stated that the surefire way to lower costs for Palawan’s electricity rates was by waiting out the EPSA and hiring power suppliers—preferably those that used renewable energy, as it remains unaffected by fuel prices—through a competitive selection process, which would then fall under a government subsidy.
Maceda further noted that other concerns about NAPOCOR’s proposed SAGR would be properly addressed at a trial hearing.
