Solar Para sa Bayan president Leandro Leviste welcomed the challenge of the National Association of General Managers of Electric Cooperatives for the private sector to “prioritize remote, underserved locations first.”
The challenge is intended to show their sincerity in supplying power to the countryside, even as he is also amused, if not confused why the electric cooperative managers, despite their challenge, are against the entry of the private sector into their unserved and underserved communities.
Leviste’s statement came after his company’s announcement that it would be establishing battery minigrids to benefit 200,000 Filipinos in 12 towns.
“We hope this will not only benefit these towns but create healthy competition that benefits consumers across the country,” Leviste said in a statement.
The 12 towns that would enjoy 24/7 power through the Solar Para sa Bayan projects are from Mindoro, Palawan, Masbate, Cagayan and Aurora.
The first time so many will get electricity at zero cost to the government.
The company aims to bring 24/7 power to 500,000 Filipinos by the end of 2018.
“As we accept the NAGMEC challenge, we hope that for their part, they will also stop opposing attempts by the private sector to enter the poorly served areas—as we’ve already served in 12 towns. After all, these towns’ requests for better electric service have been ignored for years. Yet now they’re being served by an alternative provider. Unless certain coops prefer this town to have no power at all,” Leviste said.
NAGMEC president Sergio Dagooc warned that “any effort on electrification done without government subsidy is not sustainable,” adding that “only electric cooperatives’ sustained it for close to five decades now because the government subsidized the cost.”
Leviste, however” clarified that Solar Para sa Bayan is already operating without government subsidies saying that “we started this for a social mission; not to make the most profit, but to help the greatest number of our fellow Filipinos.”
Leviste said, “What is needed is for the government to allow private investors to use new technologies to serve consumers on a non-exclusive basis.”
The National Electrification Administration has requested P25 billion to subsidize electric cooperatives to reach the estimated 2,399,108 households that lack electricity, with 529,952 in Luzon, 524,040 in the Visayas, and 1,345,116 in Mindanao.
The Department of Energy has noted that resources are insufficient to reach 100% electrification by 2022.