The Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi issued a memorandum last Friday mandating all undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and concerned bureau directors to submit an inventory of all pending applications for service/operating contracts, including their dates of application, status and actions taken; as well as their status reports.
Cusi said the DOE is streamlining the process in awarding and in administering service/operating contracts, as well as in issuing permits, endorsements, or certifications for energy projects.
Cusi directed officials to ensure that all pending items relative to such processing are acted upon on or before December 20.
The Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop Law of 2017 also seeks to speed up resolution of applications by modernizing and streamlining the permitting process of power generation, transmission and distribution projects in the country.
Under the law, ailure of a government agency to act within a prescribed timeframe will result in the automatic approval of applications and potential administrative sanctions against inefficient public officers to penalize the delay.
Private entities, the system operator and market operator which fail to act within the prescribed timeframe will be slapped with a P100,000 fine per day of delay.
