ORMOC CITY, May 5 (PNA) — The Leyte V Electric Cooperative Inc. (Leyeco V) has submitted on Tuesday the names of 34,763 consumers qualified to receive the PHP42.79 million power subsidy up for release on July.
The number represents household consumers all throughout this city that are qualified to receive the subsidy except in two villages — Tongonan and Danao — that receive their own subsidies being host communities of geothermal power resource.
Republic Act 9163 or the Electric Power Reform Act (EPIRA) provides royalty to host communities of energy resources like Ormoc. Under section 66 of said law, 80 percent of the royalty will be utilized to subsidize the cost of power used by consumers.
The Subsidy Council decided that the list of beneficiaries will be distributed to the communities on May 11 for posting in village halls. A help desk will be placed at city hall to take in queries. Consumers who will not be satisfied with the answers provided by the help desk will be referred to Leyeco V.
For the next 15 days or until the 26th, the help desk will accept complaints, after which the council will resolve the issues until June 11. At this pace, the subsidy’s release might still be in July.
Councilor Ruben Capahi who chairs the Subsidy Council laments the lengthy procedure could be attributed to the new rules.
Since Epira took effect in 2001, all household electric consumers in Ormoc have been enjoying subsidy, which made the distribution easier as it was across-the-board. But this was suspended in 2009 with the passage of Republic Act 9513 or the Renewable Energy Law of 2008.
While the new law upheld the subsidy, section 31 limits the beneficiaries to end-users whose monthly consumption does not exceed 100kWh. This means that only households with consumption not over 100 kilowatt per hour per month are qualified under the new guidelines.
A total Php42.79 million (interest included) of subsidy is up for release covering the years 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Capahi appeals for patience of city’s power consumers, saying the Subsidy Council is ensuring an orderly and transparent process in distributing the subsidy. (PNA)
LGI/RCK/SQM/FELIX N. CODILLA/EGR
