NEA: PH households with power up to 13M
Credit to Author: JORDEENE B. LAGARE| Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 16:18:16 +0000
THE number of Filipino households with electricity has reached a record 13 million, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) reported.
This means an average of 275,238 new connections or a 2-percent increase were registered every six months, NEA said in statement on Tuesday.
The agency said the percentage of energization surged to 91 percent in April against 80 percent in June 2016, based on the April data from its Information Technology and Communication Services Department (ITCSD).
The government has set a target of 100-percent electrification of Filipino households by 2022.
NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong said this milestone was a concrete manifestation of the strong commitment of the agency and the 121 electric cooperatives (ECs) to spur social and economic development in the countryside through electrification.
“Our relentless efforts with respect to providing electricity to rural and remote areas of the country and usher in a bright future for our fellow Filipinos have borne fruit. This is another milestone in the golden year of the Rural Electrification Program,” Masongsong said.
Earlier, Masongsong said the government needed P40 billion to energize about 2.3 million households in some 16,000 areas without electricity. Of the total number, majority of the households were located in various parts of Mindanao.
The NEA chief noted the current energization rate of ECs and private power distribution companies stood at 89.5 percent of more than 14 million households that were supposed to have access to power since 1969.
For this year, the agency had proposed a budget of P5.2 billion to implement the government’s rural electrification program but was slashed to P800 million.
Established in 1969, the NEA, mandated by the law to energize households located in remote areas, will be celebrating its 50th founding anniversary carrying the theme “NEA@50: One with ECs and MCOs for Sustainable Rural Development.”
The agency will hold month-long activities to showcase the significant milestones of the NEA and power co-ops in its continuing efforts to uplift the lives of Filipinos in the countryside through rural electrification. These include a three-day convention to be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on August 6 to 8 which will be participated by key officials from the government, electrification sector, and member-consumer-owners (MCOs).
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