LGUs receive P4.15-B share in energy fund
By Myrna M. Velasco – December 20, 2020, 6:00 AM
from Manila Bulletin
Remittances to local government units (LGUs) hosting energy projects reached as much as P4.155 billion this year, according to a report from the Department of Energy.
The fund share of the host communities is based on the prescription of Energy Regulations (ER) 1-94 wherein they are entitled to P0.01 per kilowatt hour (kWh) share in the energy sales of power generation companies or resource developers they have been hosting in their areas.
Based on figures released by the DOE, the bulk of fund releases had been for electrification fund at P2.068 billion; followed by development and livelihood fund at P1.054 billion; and then reforestation, watershed management, health and environment enhancement fund for P1.033 billion.
The LGU-host communities in Luzon cornered the lion’s share of P3.092 billion; while Visayas cornered the second highest fraction in the pie at P706.849 million; while Mindanao secured P356.026 million.
The energy department similarly noted that P462 million had been remitted directly by the concerned power generation companies to their host communities.
And before the end of this year, the DOE indicated that it is processing the transfer of additional P278 million to various host communities of energy projects in several regions.
In this year’s fund releases under ER 1-94, the energy department has given the LGUs some scale of flexibility to use the funneled financial resources in their fight against the spread of the coronavirus and in containing the pandemic.
Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said the department “has successfully implemented and monitored the direct remittance of the financial benefits to host communities/regions to ensure that ER 1-94 funds are utilized immediately for their development needs and for the delivery of essential health services to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the crisis.”
The host communities had been given the leeway to spend the fund for Covid-19 response strategies, to include: feeding programs and provision of relief goods; acquisition of personal protective equipment and other necessities for frontline medical workers; as well as for the installation or leasing of medical or quarantine facilities.
“This unprecedented experience has given the energy sector the opportunities for creativity, flexibility and ingenuity to reorganize, on the local and national level, and find innovative ways of providing essential health services to all,” Cusi said. To enable the re-alignment of ER 1-94 funds for LGU’s Covid-19 response, the DOE issued Circular No. DC2020-04-0008 to serve as legal ground for that particular government initiative.
