The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it is set to resolve this month at least two of the eight cases filed by the National Power Corp. (NPC) in relation to requests to increase Universal Cost for Missionary Electrification (UCME) rates.
UCME is collected from power consumers connected to the grid and is spent to lower the cost of providing power to 278 Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) plants nationwide which are mostly located in remote areas and are not connected to the main grid.
ERC said the resolution of UCME rate increase cases will likely result to an increase of P0.15 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in power rates of customers paying the said charge.
“We promised NPC to help them resolve their cases that are actually 10 years old and piled up in the commission. There are eight cases filed over the last 10 years, we try to resolve them, two cases for every quarter starting this March until we get to the 15 centavos to help (NPC) have funds to buy fuel,” said ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta, at the sidelines of the Pandesal Forum in Quezon City yesterday.
Dimalanta said if the first two UCME rate increase cases are resolved within the month, impact to power rates will be felt only by May.
However, the ERC did not detail the likely rate impact for the two initial UCME rate increase request.
The NPC appealed for help to beef up its funds to avail enough fuel for its SPUG plant.
