EPIRA review, amendment sought to lower power cost
By Maria Bernadette Romero – Jul 22, 2024, 19:01
from Daily Tribune
To address the high power prices in the country, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has urged Congress to review and consider amending the more than two-decades-old Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.
The legislative action aims to explore potential modifications to the existing law so that it may keep up with the changing energy landscape while helping facilitate lower electricity costs for Filipino consumers.
“Binabalikan at binubusisi natin muli ang EPIRA upang malaman kung angkop pa ba ito sa ating kasalukuyang sitwasyon o napapanahon na upang ito ay amyendahan. Hinihiling ko sa Kongreso na pagtulungan natin ito alang-alang sa kapakanan ng mga Pilipino. Sa taas ng presyo ng kuryente sa bansa, nahihirapan hindi lamang ang mga negosyante, kundi ang taumbayan,” Marcos said during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
“As energy projects get completed and new investments pour into the sector, we expect our nation’s power supply to increase at a steady pace to meet our growing demand in the next few years. Nonetheless, we are continuously diagnosing and urgently addressing power shortages, as well as the systemic causes of blackouts in unserved and underserved areas,” the President said.
The passage of the EPIRA during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo dismantled the government’s control over the local power industry. Instead, it granted the private sector significant control and influence over the power market.
Despite these changes, the EPIRA mandates that the restructured electricity industry is assured of healthy competition through a level playing field in the competitive retail electricity markets, with oversight by the Energy Regulatory Commission and the Philippine Competition Commission.
