Duterte signs order for PH to achieve 100% electrification

By Prince Golez

President Rodrigo Duterte has signed Executive Order No. (EO) 156, instituting measures to ensure consistent and reliable electricity service in inadequately served areas to achieve total electrification of the entire country.

EO 156 tasked the Department of Energy (DOE) to identify unviable, unserved, underserved and poorly served areas within the franchise areas of distribution utilities (DUs).

The DOE must require all DUs to submit a Comprehensive Electrification master Plan for the total electrification of their respective franchise areas.

The department should also take appropriate steps to ensure the electrification of inadequately served areas; formulate mechanisms and procedures for the participation of local government units and communities in determining whether their respective areas are inadequately served; consult with all relevant government agencies and electric power industry participants to determine and identify all under-performing and ineffective DUs; and conduct a performance review of all DUs and assess the performance of all agencies and electric power industry participants involved in the electrification program and recommend appropriate actions among others.

Duterte also ordered the Energy Regulatory Commission to promulgate rules in computing rates that allow full cost recovery for the facilities built by microgrids, distributed energy resources (DERs), and other alternative electric service providers as well as impose fines and penalties against non-compliant DUs and recommend to Congress the revocation of their franchises.

Meanwhile, the National Electrification Administration must submit a report to the Office of the President, through the DOE, on the status of ailing electric cooperations and the measures undertaken to restore the economic and financial viability of their respective operations.

“There is a need to utilize rapid advancements in technology which have facilitated the development of integrated systems such as microgrids, DERs, and other alternative service providers, where the nature of production, delivery and consumption of electricity can be controlled and operated on a smaller scale suitable for unserved and unviable areas,” said Duterte.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)