The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Finance (DOF) signed the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Murang Kuryente Act (MKA), which aims for cheaper electricity.
This was approved with consultation with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Bureau of the Treasury, and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) and shall take effect 15 days upon publication, according to a report.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed the measure on August 8, 2019, which allows the use of P208 billion of the Malampaya Fund for the payment of PSALM’s stranded contract cost (SCC) and stranded debts (SD), which PSALM assumed from the National Power Corp. (NPC).
Under MKA’s IRR Section 2.4 and 9.1, no new Universal Charges (UC) for SCC and SD shall be collected from consumers upon effectivity of the IRR.
Meanwhile, Section 9.2 states that, “PSALM shall not file with the Energy Regulatory Commission [ERC] any new petition for UC stranded contract costs and stranded debts until the P208 billion allocated amount under this Act [MKA] is exhausted and no other allocations are made by Congress.”
“We are glad that the IRR has finally been signed. This gives consumers relief from paying an estimated total additional amount of P0.86 per kilowatt-hour of UC SCC and UC SD covering up to year 2024,” said PSALM President Irene Besido-Garcia.
The P0.86 per kWh is the estimated total UC for SCC and SD covering the UC petitions of PSALM pending in the ERC.
Effective February the collection of the UC, SCC ceased in view of the full recovery by PSALM of the ERC approved amount for SCC. The current rate being collected from all electricity end-users is at P0.0428/kWh.
IRR notes the documentary requirements, timeline, responsibilities, and functions of concerned agencies tasked for the implementation of the law, PSALM said.
Specifically, it states the process of determining the annual allocation from the Malampaya Fund through the General Appropriations Act, aligned with the fiscal program of the government, as well as the releases of approved amounts to PSALM for the payment of its SCC, SD, and other financial obligations.