NEA gets P1.8-B electrification budget

By Myrna M. Velasco – September 26, 2021, 7:30 PM
from Manila Bulletin

Government-run National Electrification Administration (NEA) got an allocation of P1.8 billion budget only for its electrification mandate, enormously falling short of the P18 billion funding needed to fully meet the nationwide energization of all households until June next year as promised by the Duterte administration.

National Electrification Administration

According to the electrification agency, P1.627 billion will be used for sitio electrification, while P200 million will be earmarked for the Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency Fund (ECERF) or the financing platform that could be made available to electric cooperatives (ECs) to expedite repair of their facilities hammered by natural disasters.

Even the ECERF allocation was also way lower than the P750 million proposal under Republic Act 11039, which intends to aid ECs attain faster rehabilitation and service restoration during calamities, so Filipino consumers will not need to suffer prolonged blackouts.

It was noted that under the 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP), NEA will be getting a total budget of P3.896 billion – inclusive of its corporate operational expense. NEA’s budget was already tackled and passed in plenary deliberations at the House of Representatives last week.

The electrification agency also said that of the allocation, P2.069 billion will be financed from NEA’s internally generated funds, while the balance of P1.827 billion will be allotted as subsidy from the national government.

On expense share per class, P2.212 billion or 57-percent will be allocated for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE); P1.289 billion or 33-percent will be set for capital outlay; and P394.97 million or 10-percent will be appropriated for personnel services.

“The proposed budget will allow the agency to meet its corporate targets for 2022, which include the electrification of 1,085 sitios and connection of additional 400,000 consumers,” NEA said.

The state-run entity previously indicated though that to accomplish full electrification in all parts of the country, it will still need to electrify 12,000 sitios – and each sitio will need P1.5 million, hence, the aggregate funding had been pegged at P18 billion.

As of end-June this year, NEA reported that based on its partnership with various electric cooperatives, it already accomplished the energization of at least 78 provinces; 90 cities; 1,387 municipalities; 36,080 barangays; 125,969 sitios and 14.54 million consumers in the entire country.

Part of the agency’s budget will also be channeled to ECs’ target of reducing system loss to 12 percent; improvement of collection efficiency that shall hover at 98-percent; outlay for loans at P1.2 billion; and for the realization of a net margin on operations.