• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Department of Energy, Energy Regulatory Commission, and Department of Social Welfare and Development held Nov. 11 in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental an information campaign on the salient provisions of Republic Act 11552, which extends and enhances the implementation of the lifeline electricity rate.
The beneficiaries are marginalized end-users and members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
The info drive in Kabankalan was conducted in cooperation with the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative and the City Social Welfare and Development Office.
It was the first in the series of information education campaigns to be held every weekend all over the Visayas to encourage all qualified 4Ps and marginalized electricity users to register in the program, the DOE Visayas Field Office said in a statement.
The complete rollout of the program, initially set in August, was moved to September, and then to January 2024 to accommodate more beneficiaries.
The subsidized rate is part of the socialized pricing mechanism that provides for a percentage discount, except for those using net-metering services, and those apprehended for electricity pilferage.
For the Central Negros Electric Cooperative, a 50-percent discount will be given to registrants consuming 25 kilowatt-hour of electricity per month, with corresponding markdown for other low power consumers of up to 80kWh/month.
For the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative, its approved lifeline subsidy is 50 percent for consumers with 15kWh and below usage per month, and up to five percent discount for 21-25kWh users.
A tripartite advisory from the DOE, ERC, and DSWD directed all distribution utilities (DUs) to exert more aggressive promotion efforts to disseminate information on the Lifeline Rate Program and to continue accepting and processing applications.
“To allow for the rollout of more aggressive promotion and registration efforts from DUs, consumers and the government, as well as for the review of the registration requirements, the full implementation of the new Lifeline Rate Program is moved to January 2024,” the advisory said, adding that starting on Jan. 1, only those who have approved applications shall be entitled to avail of the subsidy provided under the program. | CGC
