THE National Electrification Administration (NEA) said that it has brought electricity to 362 rural villages under its Sitio Electrification Program (SEP) in the four months to April, the majority of which were in Mindanao.
“Of which, 200 sitios were in Mindanao, 106 sitios in the Visayas, and 56 sitios in Luzon. These sitios’ (electrification was) funded by previous years’ General Appropriations Act[s] (GAA),” the NEA’s communications office told BusinessWorld in an e-mail last week.
The overall number of rural villages that were energized stood at 125,581 or 84.46% of the total that are within the coverage areas of 121 electric cooperatives, as of Feb. 28.
Two months ago, the agency said it will be seeking P16.76 billion in additional funding from the budget department until 2026 to power up over 11,000 rural villages under the SEP. It added that its current budget of P1.63 billion under the 2021 GAA can only energize 1,085 sitios.
On May 5, NEA said that this year’s allocation has not yet been released. It clarified that the P1.63-billion budget is “only intended for the implementation of SEP, and the figure does not include the off-grid electrification projects.”
The agency added that its two main renewable energy (RE) programs, the Strategized Sitio Electrification Program (SSEP) and the Strategized Household Electrification Program (SHEP) are facing delays.
“The implementation of these RE programs has faced delays due to COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). However, the NEA-TEREDD (Total Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Department), together with its partner ECs (electric cooperatives), is continuously looking for ways to work around the difficulties brought about by the pandemic,” it said.
The SSEP hopes to develop mini-grid systems powered by RE in the off-grid areas, while the SHEP aims to electrify dispersed and isolated households using Solar Home Systems. — Angelica Y. Yang
