The bicameral conference committee has approved the proposed “Murang Kuryente Act” which would help consumers avail themselves of lower electricity costs.
Sen. herwin Gatchalian, head of the Senate Committee on Energy and principal sponsor of the measure, confirmed this after the meeting of the bicam panel at the Senate.
The bill, which was filed by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, authorizes the use of the P207-billion Malampaya Fund to pay off the stranded contract costs and stranded debt of the National Power Corp.
“If an ordinary consumer consumes 200 kilowatt hour per month, they would be able to save almost P170 per month which is more or less, four kilos of rice,” Gatchalian told reporters in a press briefing.
The senator also said at least 16 million households would benefit from the measure once President Duterte signs it into law.
“We are hoping that the President would support this bill because this is the first measure where our consumers will directly benefit consumers,” Gatchalian said. “If you check at our electricity bill, you would see an item indicating universal charges for stranded costs and stranded debts. That would be removed once this bill becomes a law,” he assured.
Gatchalian said only 60 to 70 percent of the Malampaya Fund would be used to remove the stranded costs and stranded debts. He said the rest of the fund would be used to explore other sources of energy. (Hannah Torregoza)
