IRR signed on Murang Kuryente Act of 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Consumers are expected to save P0.86 per kilowatt-hour following signing of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR)of the Murang Kuryente Act.

The IRR was signed by the Department of Energy and Department of Finance in consultation with the Department of Budget and Management, the Bureau of the Treasury and the Power Sector Assets amd Liabilities Management Corp.

The Murang Kuryente Act, signed by President Duterte in August 2019, legislates the use of P208 billion from the Malampaya fund for the payment of PSALM’s stranded contract costs (SCC) and stranded debts (SD) that PSALM assumed from the National Power Corp.

SCC refers to the excess of Napocor’s contracted cost of electricity with independent power producers over the actual selling price of the output.

On the other hand, SD refers to any unpaid financial obligations which have not been liquidated by proceeds from the sale and privatization of Napocor assets.

“We are glad that the IRR has finally been signed. This gives consumers relief from paying an estimated total additional amount of P0.86 per kilowatt-hour of universal charge (UC)  SCC and UC SD covering up to year 2024,” PSALM president and chief executive officer Irene Besido Garcia said.

This P0.86 per kwh is the estimated total UC SCC and SD covering the petitions of PSALM pending in the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) at the rate of P0.3007 per kwh and the future UC

petitions of PSALM that it will file with ERC with impact of P0.5593 per kwh.

For a household consuming 200 kWh electricity, this translates to about P172 of monthly savings from reduced electricity rates, or an annual savings of P2,064.

“PSALM shall not file with the ERC any new petition for UC stranded contract costs and stranded debts until the P208 billion allocated amount under this Act is exhausted and no other allocations are made by Congress,” the law said.

PSALM is tasked to ensure consistent recordkeeping of disbursements and report the utilization of the fund to oversight agencies including the ERC and the Joint Congressional Energy Commission.