Duterte appoints new Napocor head

by Alena Mae S. Flores – March 30, 2017 at 07:40 pm

from Manila Standard Today

Malacañang appointed Pio Benavidez as new president of state-run National Power Corp. in place of Gladys Sta. Rita.

Benavidez was appointed to the board only this month prior to his appointment as new president.

Benavidez served as a former vice president of Napocor a few years ago and was later hired by  Marubeni Philippines.

“Yes, it is my oath-taking,” Benavidez said, said when pressed for comment on Thursday.

Sta. Rita, meanwhile, was appointed by former president Benigno Aquino III in 2013.

Napocor disclosed a net income of P1.6 billion in 2016, lower than P4.9 billion in 2015.

Napocor said in a statement it sustained a positive income since 2012.

“The good financial position of the corporation for 2016 is attributed to the corporation’s fiscal prudence and good governance practices. The restructured tariff recovery approach, more proactive recovery of the Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification and sustained high collection efficiency also helped in maintaining our good financial standing,” Napocor said.

Napocor in 2014 filed before the Energy Regulatory Commission a petition for a restructured tariff recovery approach to bring the gap between cost and revenue closer.

ERC provisionally approved a P0.1163 per kilowatt-hour basic universal charge for missionary electrification, up from P0.0454 per kWh previously.

ERC said the provisionally approved tariff gave the corporation a greater fiscal muscle. It allowed them to fund most of the expenses using current revenues.

Napocor said the sustained collection efficiency also contributed to the corporation’s finances. Its collection efficiency for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao excluding Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi rose to 98.38 percent in 2016 from 85 percent in 2012.

“We owe our sound collection efficiency to the dialogs we have been organizing with our customers since the past three years. These dialogues paved the way for a better and faster communication line and better services we give to our customers,” Sta. Rita said.

Napocor procured 56 new generating sets with an aggregate capacity of 13.55 megawatts. These gen sets were distributed to 47 Small Power Utilities Group power plants which allowed an enhanced power supply in the islands.