NPC posts P1.6-B net income in 2016

By Myrna M. Velasco – February 28, 2017, 10:01 PM

from Manila Bulletin

The net income of state-run National Power Corporation (NPC) was still at considerably healthy balance in 2016 at P1.6 billion, although there was a dip from the year-ago level of P4.9 billion that was generally underpinned then by one-off items that boosted overall earnings.

The company said last year’s financial outcome was still positive, as NPC struggled for years to reverse a net loss of P2.78 billion in 2010.

According to NPC President Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita, “the good financial position of the corporation for 2016 is attributed to fiscal prudence and good governance practices.”

Such covered restructured tariff recovery approach, more proactive recovery of the universal charge for missionary electrification (UCME) and sustained high collection efficiency.

In 2014, the state-run firm pleaded to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for a modification of its tariff cost recoveries “to bring the gap between cost and revenue closer.”

In that timeframe, the industry regulator had given its go-signal for an increase in its UCME to P0.1163 per kilowatt hour (kWh) from a paltry level of P0.0454 per kWh. Currently, the UCME level is at P0.1561 per kWh.

Sta. Rita explained that such provisionally approved tariff “gave the corporation greater fiscal muscle,” enabling it then “to fund most of the expenses using current revenues.”

Beyond propping up its rate base, the company similarly attributed better financial standing to “sustained collection efficiency.”

It has been noted that average collection efficiency for the company on all grids, except for Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi, reached record-level of 98.38 percent from 85 percent in 2012.

Sta. Rita said they achieved such improvement because of “the dialogues that we have been organizing with our customers in the past three years.”