The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has laid out a series of public hearings on the petition of the National Power Corp. (NPC) for a new schedule of charges to be paid by consumers in off-grid areas in the country.
The public hearings start in March and will last around October this year prospectively extending the Small Power Utilities Group or SPUG new and subsidized generation rates operating in Mindoro, Marinduque, Palawan, Catanduanes, Masbate, Romblon, Tablas, Camotes, Siquijor, Bantayan, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, among others.
The series of hearings may result in higher power rates for off-grid consumers.
ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said the current rate based on costs collected from off-grid consumers has not been adjusted since 2005.
The SPUGs compensated for the deficiency from the universal charge for missionary electrification (UCME) collected from on-grid consumers currently at P0.2233 per kilowatt hour.
The SPUGs number 278 at present and are mostly diesel-fired generator sets, the NPC said.
