Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo wants the Department of Energy to secure stable energy supply while conserving energy resources.
Arroyo made the statement as Congress was expected to pass on third and final reading House Bill 8629 before Congress adjourns on Dec. 14.
In a related development:
* Bicol Party-List Rep. Rodel Batocabe on Tuesday called for a proper mechanism that would effectively implement the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 designed to significantly lower power rates for big consumers of electricity.
Batocabe was referring to the Retail Competition and Open Access program, which is institutionalized under EPIRA.
“Let it be implemented first and let us see if it will produce the desired effects, that is to reduce power rates,” said Batocabe.
“Anyway, there is the Joint Congressional Power Commission which serves as an oversight to check whether or not it is implemented in accordance with its legislative intent,” the minority bloc member said.
RCOA benefits so-called contestable customers—consumers of more than 750 kilowatts—by allowing them to choose their retail electricity suppliers.
One study by the Manila Observatory says this gives CCs power cost savings of up to 26 percent.
Arroyo, one of the principal authors of the bill, said the measure, or the proposed “Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act,” shall encourage the efficient utilization of energy as well as ensure that its use will promote sustainable development.
“The bill shall promote the judicious conservation of energy resources while minimizing their adverse impacts on the environment. It also intends to ultimately achieve the goal of the government to spur economic activity, and therefore, growth,” Arroyo said in her bill’s explanatory note.
The House on Monday approved on second reading HB 8629, setting the stage for the bill’s approval on third and final reading next week.
The bill mandates the DoE to lead the development and implementation of plans and programs to secure the stability and sufficiency of energy supply in the country, which shall cushion the impact of the high price of imported fuels to local markets.
With this, the DoE shall undertake the following functions:
(a) update the development of the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plan and monitor its implementation;
(b) initiate and maintain collaborative efforts with the business sector to ensure their compliance; support local government units in planning, promoting, and implementing the programs and in preparing their Local Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plans;
(d) develop a national awareness and advocacy campaign; and
(e) provide annual reports to the Congress on the status of the implementation, among others.
There shall be a system of certification and assessment for energy conservation officers and energy managers toward raising the professional standards of those engaged in energy management, which will be developed by the DoE and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. Qualified individuals shall earn the title of Certified Energy Efficiency and Conservation Officer.
The measure also directs the DoE to strengthen the existing Energy Service Company Accreditation System to be able to provide the market with technically and financially capable entities that can assist in the delivery of energy efficiency-related projects.
The DoE shall call on all manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers to subject their energy-consuming products to an energy performance testing in accordance with the Minimum Energy Performance guidelines to be issued by the DoE to ensure the effective implementation of energy efficiency and conservation.
The DoE shall also be mandated to develop and enforce a Mandatory Energy Efficiency Rating and Labeling for energy-consuming products to provide assistance for consumers in choosing energy efficient appliances as well as raise public awareness on energy saving.
In addition, the DoE, with the assistance of the Energy Regulatory Commission, shall also pursue a Demand Side Management Program for the electric power industry to reduce energy consumption through effective load management.
During the 15 years from the approval of the measure, energy efficient projects shall be included in the Strategic Investments Priorities Plan of the government.
These programs shall also be entitled to receive a certificate from the Fiscal Incentives Review Board.
These duly certified energy efficient project proponents shall be exempted from income taxes levied by the national government for the first six years of their commercial operations.
Additional investments in these projects shall allow further income tax exemption.
Aside from these, establishments implementing these programs shall also be entitled to the following incentives:
(a) provision of awards and recognition for energy efficiency and conservation best practices, innovation and successful energy-efficient projects and products; and
(b)provision of technical assistance from government agencies in the development and promotion of energy efficient technologies.
Meanwhile, the DoE shall be authorized to impose penalties for any violation of the Act, as well as its implementing rules and regulations, with fines ranging from P10,000 to P10 million.
The Joint Congressional Power Commission created under Section 62 of Republic Act 9136 or the “Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001” shall exercise oversight functions over the implementation of this measure upon its effectivity.
Among those that reportedly took advantage of RCOA when it was first launched were malls, universities, factories, and office buildings, which migrated away from the national capital region’s dominant supplier, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), to their choice of supplier.
However, several CCs—including Ateneo de Manila University, PCCI, Marikina Riverbanks Development Corp, and San Beda College Alabang—petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) in 2017 to issue a temporary restraining order on the mandatory migration aspect of RCOA and eligibility of distribution utilities to participate as suppliers.
Energy industry stakeholders agree that the TRO has had a chilling effect on the market by preventing the migration of CCs and slowing down the government’s full implementation of RCOA, which is already 10 years late in terms of the EPIRA-mandated timeline.
EPIRA was signed on June 8, 2001 by then-President and Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
For his part, Akbayan Party-List Rep. Tom Villarin, an opposition member, reckoned that the RCOA provision of EPIRA was made “irrelevant” by the absence of true competition in the local power industry.
“There are provisions in the EPIRA that need to be reviewed and revised in order to make clear and/ or clarify with definiteness certain provisions which are vague and susceptible to different interpretations…Other than that, the rationale for EPIRA is still good,” he said.