NEA overshoots new consumer connections target for 2019, energization level at 95%
By Lenie Lectura -March 2, 2020
from Business Mirror
The National Electrification Administration (NEA) has registered 586,144 additional consumer connections last year, 27 percent higher than its target of 460,000 for 2019.
The new connections resulted in achieving an energization level of 95 percent under the franchise areas of different electric cooperatives nationwide. NEA oversees the operation of all ECs in the country.
NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong said the overall level of energization within the coverage areas of nonprofit distribution utilities nationwide is at 95 percent, or 13,625,857 connections out of the 14,335,784 potential consumers based on the 2015 census.
Forty-seven percent of these consumer connections, or 6.429 million, are located in Luzon; 27 percent, or 3.641 million, in Visayas; and 26 percent, or 3.556 million, in Mindanao.
The top 5 provinces with the highest number of consumer connections are Negros Occidental (616,041); Pangasinan (561,052); Batangas (512,242); Cebu (506,580); and Leyte (452,531).
Masongsong said surpassing the target helps keep the state-run electrification agency, together with its 121 partner ECs across the country, on pace toward achieving the 100-percent energization target by 2022.
“For this year to 2022, the challenge is the energization of the remaining 1,874,709 unserved consumers within the coverage areas of 121 electric cooperatives across the country,” he said.
The NEA earlier said its national government subsidy allocation would prioritize ECs with low electrification rates—particularly those at 74 percent and below—that have good project liquidation performance.
ECs in areas with problems on peace and order, financial liquidity, and those classified as “medium” and below would also be evaluated to be qualified for specific electrification- related projects.
“Electric cooperatives with energization levels ranging 95 percent and above, based on the 2015 census without growth rate, shall be the least priority for allocation,” said Masongsong.
The so-called better-performing ECs will be required to utilize their internally generated funds; scout potential private investors for joint ventures; tap international, and local, grants and programs; and include in their capital expenditure project application to the Energy Regulatory Commission other necessary programs for development.
For this year, the NEA has been given P2.3-billion national government subsidy for rural electrification projects based on the 2020 General Appropriations Act. Bulk of the amount or P1.399 billion was allocated for the continuing implementation of the Sitio Electrification Program.
Solar power
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said solar power is fast becoming a solution to address electricity needs in rural and remote areas across Asia and the Pacific region.
In an Asian Development Blog, ADB Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department Chief of Energy Sector Group Yongping Zhai said this is one of the reasons for the region’s good progress in meeting the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on access to electricity.
However, Zhai said solar power is still trailing behind as a clean- energy cooking source which is also part of the SDGs—universal access to clean cooking.
“The power of the sun should be put to work as a clean-energy cooking source in Asia,” said Zhai.
Zhai said the International Energy Agency, 1.7 billion people in Asia and the Pacific still use solid fuels, such as fuel wood, crop wastes, charcoal, coal, or even human and animal waste.
He said the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against the impact of the use of these fuels on human health, particularly women and young children who spend more time at home.
Citing WHO, Zhai said indoor smoke in rural homes can have 100 times more fine particles than acceptable levels.
Zhai said this has to change not only because of the serious implications on health but also on the budget of households.
