PRESIDENT Duterte has extended the “no disconnection” policy for “lifeliners” or power users who consume 100 kilowatt hours or less per month to help low-income earners cope with the continuing economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the President approved the recommendation of the Department of Energy to extend the no disconnection policy for distribution utilities (DUs) and electric cooperatives (ECs) during his meeting with Cabinet secretaries on Wednesday.
Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said the extension is only effective until the end of the month. The official no disconnection policy for DUs and ECs which was made official by the Energy Regulatory Commission ended last year.
The ERC in October 2020 stopped power distributors from disconnecting households with low energy consumption due to non-payment of bills until the end of 2020.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the extension means there will be “no disconnection this February 2021,” including unpaid bills up to December 2020.
Roque said lifeliners who are still unable to pay their bill after the end of February may negotiate with the electric company in their jurisdictions for a payment installment scheme.
Nograles said the DOE told the President that while lifeliners comprise 32 percent of the power consumer base, they only account for three percent of electricity sales.
“So, this is very doable,” Nograles said adding that the President readily gave the thumbs up to the proposal as he noted that electricity is a basic necessity that Filipinos cannot live without.
Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said they “will comply with the government’s directive and will wait for the specific guidelines from the Department of Energy.”
“We would like to assure our customers that we will continue to assist all of them in addressing their billing issues,” Zaldarriaga said.
The Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (PHILRECA), however, said that any prolonged extension of this policy will disrupt cash flow in power supply chain.
Presley De Jesus, the group’s president and party list representative, said that “there will be a huge implication in the financial stability of all stakeholders in the energy supply chain should a prolonged no disconnection policy is imposed by the government.”
He warned that such disruption will not only affect the energy sector as when electricity consumers default on their utility bills payments, DUs will eventually default as well to its power suppliers.
De Jesus cited that DUs are “mere collection agents” of generation companies and even by the government in terms of taxes.
Also during the meeting, Nograles said the President also backed the call of the DOE for Congress to pass a law that will extend until 2051 the lifeline electricity subsidy provided to low-income households that consume 100 kilowatt hours of electricity per month or less.
The lifeline subsidy given to low-income households is set to end by the end of this year, as stipulated under Republic Act No. 10150 which extended the Electricity Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA).
