Peza rate discount sought

Manila Electric Co., the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. have asked National Power Corp. to extend a power rate discount until December next year.

In separate letters to Napocor president Froilan Tampinco, Meralco, Peza and Seipi said the rate discount, or ecozone rate program, would benefit the country’s industrial customers.

Ernie Santiago, Seipi president, said the agreement on rate discount between Meralco and Napocor for high load industries in Peza would end at the same time as the Napocor-Meralco transition supply contract on Dec. 25, 2011.

“Our industry would like to request for the extension of the said ecozone rate program until December 25, 2012, to coincide with Meralco’s requested extension of the TSC. The semiconductor and electronics industry had just started to recover from a two-year downturn brought about by the global financial crisis,” Santiago said.

The rate program offers as much as a discount of P1 per kilowatt-hour to industrial consumers with high load factor.

He said any “breathing space” or the continuation and not a disruption of the prevailing ecozone power rates would help ensure the competitiveness of the industry, which accounts for two-thirds, or $31 billion, of the total exports of merchandise goods in 2010.

Seipi is the largest organization of foreign and Filipino electronics companies in the Philippines. Its members, including Texas Instruments, Analog Devises, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Sharp, Samsung and Sanyo, invest an average of $1 billion every year.

Napocor and Meralco agreed to provide the rate program to Peza-accredited industries in 2007.

Meralco chief operating officer Oscar Reyes said the extension of the discount rate program would help promote economic efficiency and enhance competitiveness of the Philippine products in the global market.

Meralco said the program had benefited industrial customers who have been the driving force behind the economy.

The program currently benefits 279 customers, who contribute 43 percent of the total Philippine manufacturing exports, or around $19 billion, and provide more than 222,213 jobs.

“Considering the benefits of the ecozone rate program…,there is a greater reason and necessity to extend the term of our [agreement] to ensure an affordable supply of power vital to industries and thus enhance their competitiveness in the global market,” Reyes said. –Alena Mae S. Flores, Manila Standard Today