The electricity bill paid by Filipino consumers would be reduced if the proposed “Murang Kuryente Act” is passed into law, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said.
The measure calls for the use of the P207-billion Malampaya Funds to pay off the stranded contract costs and stranded debt of the National Power Corp.
He said this would provide savings for Filipino households.
“It is high time for the Filipino people to receive tangible benefits from the Malampaya Fund. With the approval of this measure, the government profits realized from the Malampaya Natural Gas Project will end up producing more affordable retail power rates for millions of consumers across the country,” he said.
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Energy, sponsored Senate Bill No. 1950 or the Murang Kuryente Act, which is based on a bill authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto.
He noted that the Malampaya fund, which was initially intended to fund the exploration, development, and exploitation of energy resources, has remained largely unused since 2001.
“The measure I am sponsoring today proposes to minimize, if not completely eliminate, the universal charges for stranded contract costs and stranded debts. If passed into law, this bill would lower electricity rates and provide significant consumer savings for Filipinos,” Gatchalian said.
He said consumers have long been made to share the burden of paying the debts of the National Power Corporation through the universal charge for stranded debts and stranded contract costs paid in the monthly electricity bill.
The lawmaker estimated that power consumers shelled out ₱0.1938 per kilowatt hour from January 2013 to May 2017 to pay for Napocor debts through the universal charge for stranded debts and stranded contract costs. By June last year, Filipino households started paying ₱0.2203 per kilowatt.
Gatchalian warned Filipino households may have to suffer even more pass on charges as the cash flow projection of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation, the government corporation which inherited Napocor’s debts, shows the necessity of collecting an accumulated universal charge of ₱0.5593 pesos per kilowatt hour from the year 2020 to 2026 unless the bill becomes law.