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Nearly 300,000 households get subsidized power

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By Alena Mae S. Flores – July 22, 2024, 7:50 pm
from manilastandard.net

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said Monday nearly 300,000 qualified marginalized end-users (QMEs) are now enjoying the lifeline rate subsidy program following the government’s intensified information campaigns and caravans.

It said that as of July 15, 2024, the total number of registrations for the electricity subsidy program, which the ERC facilitates in cooperation with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), reached 293,259 registered QMEs.

Around 241,094 came from Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) households, while the remaining 52,165 were non-4Ps beneficiaries.

The ERC said majority are consumers of electric cooperatives (ECs), with registrations for ECs reaching 250,566, while registrations for private utilities total to 42,693.

Under Republic Act No. 11552, the ERC sets the approved threshold for the lifeline discounts depending on the prevailing rates of distribution utilities (DUs).

Qualified residents in Metro Manila served by Manila Electric Co.’s franchise who consume zero to 20 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity enjoy 100-percent discount on generation charges, including system loss, transmission, distribution and other charges approved by the ERC reflected in their bill, which means they will only be paying P20 in their electric bills.

The ERC vowed that together with the DOE and DSWD, in cooperation with local government units and DUs, they would continue to aggressively hold nationwide information and education campaigns, along with on-site registration caravans, to encourage more 4Ps beneficiaries to register and avail of the Lifeline discounts.

The ERC, with DSWD and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), also led the creation of a tripartite agreement to streamline the registration of non-4Ps beneficiaries and ease the process of obtaining the Certification of Family Income within the Poverty Threshold from LGUs.

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