The National Electrification Administration said Thursday it aims to achieve total sitio electrification by 2028 at a budget of P29.542 billion.
NEA administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda said the agency’s mandate is to oversee and implement total electrification.
“I have set the goal of total electrification by 2028. When I assumed office, I took a serious look into the manner of implementation of sitio electrification and I am bent on issuing stringent guidelines for its effective implementation,” Almenda said.
About 10,212 sitios were unenergized, while about 1.168 million households in the countryside have yet to receive electricity, according to the agency.
“In total by 2028, we will beneeding P29.5 billion spread over five or six years,” he said.
The NEA said the biggest challenge in the availment of 100-percent rural electrification is the inadequate government subsidy to finance the energization of the remaining unenergized areas.
It asked the Department of Budget and Management to fund 2,112 unenergized sitios this year, but the approved budget is only P1.62 billion, which will be allotted only for 1,085 sitios based on the estimated cost of P1.5 million per sitio.
Almeda said the estimated P29.5 billion to electrify 100 percent of sitios by 2028 does not include sitios determined for off-grid electrification.
He said NEA is implementing a total electrification roadmap in support of the Microgrid Systems Act to fulfill the agency’s sitio electrification targets.
“I think Congress would be mindful to support budget for this national program of the government that there has to be 100 percent electrification,” Almeda said.