TACLOBAN CITY – The Regional Development Council(RDC)- 8 is addressing the high power rate issue in the region through a policy recommendation to amend the EPIRA Law or Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 and the crafting of the sustainable energy transition roadmap for Eastern Visayas.
High power rates were among those challenging issues raised by the council to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during his last visit early in March.
Judah Aliposa, private sectoral representative for disaster resiliency of RDC 8, says even with the region hosting a number of renewable energy generation companies, high power rates continue to affect households.
He said the technical work group created by the council to look into policy recommendations for amendment specifically to the provision of the EPIRA Law that does not allow producers to directly sell to the users but goes to the grid instead.
“The region is host to renewable energy sources such as geothermal, hydropower, solar farms, windmills, however power generated here are not sold to us but sold to the grid which rather supplies other regions,” Aliposa said.
Alongside policy recommendations by the TWG, NEDA-8 Regional Director Meylene Rosales, the RDC-8 Vice-Chairperson, said the regional council has partnered with the United Nations-Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (United Nations ESCAP) for the formulation of the Eastern Visayas Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) Roadmap in 2024.
“The roadmap would encompass renewable energy on wider approach to the power challenge and the roadmap is expected to be finished this year,“ Dir. Rosales said.
In a move towards sustainable energy transition, the SET Roadmap for Eastern Visayas aims to provide policy recommendations for sustainable energy transition, align regional energy targets with global and national goals while considering regional context and priorities.
The region is host to renewable power generators that include the 28MW geothermal power by the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) in Ormoc City, Leyte; 6 MW Biliran Geothermal Inc. in Biliran town and 2 MW in Caibiran town, both in Biliran province.
The 14.16 MW Hydro power plants in Taft, Eastern Samar; and 2MW Leyte Electric Cooperative V in Kananga, Leyte, while there is the 206.25 MW San Isidro wind power project in Northern Samar.
The EDC is developing Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects of 30 MW in Kananga, Leyte while San Miguel Global Power has a 20 MW BESS Power project in Tabango, Leyte.
(AHLETTE C. REYES,PIA-8)
