MANILA, Philippines – The unstable power situation in the country could worsen in the next two years unless government addresses the slow process of securing permits for the construction of new power plants, House Committee on Energy chairman Rep. Reynaldo Umali said.
In a chance interview, Umali said securing permits for power plants requires 150 to 169 signatures and the process takes about four to five years to complete.
“In other countries like Peru, government takes care of securing licenses and permits on behalf of the private investor while in certain states in the US it takes only 45 days,” he noted.
Power generators have expressed concerns on the slow process of building power plants, saying this would aggravate the power supply situation.
Umali has filed House Bill 4479 seeking to declare power projects as “projects of national significance” to help address power supply deficiency and investors’ complaints over the long and often delayed processing of permits, licenses and endorsements by various government departments and agencies.
“It is envisioned that the Department of Energy shall set up a one-stop shop for processing of such requirements where all agencies of government, national and local, shall be present,” he said.
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The bill amends certain provisions of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 or EPIRA.
Umali said his bill also supports moves to lower the cost of power by exempting the sale of electricity by the generators and the distribution utilities from the value-added tax.
“The VAT on power is tantamount to double taxation and puts the consumer on triple jeopardy because there is no subsidy on power in the Philippines, unlike our Asean neighbors,” he pointed out.
