DOE aims for 90% rural electrification coverage by 2017

The Department of Energy (DOE) will ramp up rural electrification projects in line with government plans to spur investments across the country.

“It’s peripheral economics. We want to push the money in the most rural, remote areas of the regions because if you talk inclusive growth, we need to provide the infrastructure in a geographically disadvantaged area, which includes those walang kuryente,” Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said.

The DOE placed the country’s household electrification level at about 70 percent. The department targets to jack this up to 90 percent by 2017.

For 2011, the DOE allocated P1.3 billion to bring electricity to 1,420 sitios located mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao.

The department used savings from the previous year to fund the project as it did not have a budget for rural electrification. On top of this, the DOE was only able to proceed with the project in the fourth quarter.

“Things are moving really well. We’re expecting more than 100-percent completion in certain areas [and] we’re ahead of schedule in certain areas. There’s a very good chance that we will meet the 1,420 sitios targeted for the year,” Almendras said.

The DOE earlier tapped Congressional districts, local government units, civil society and even the Church to help monitor the status of the electrification project.

The National Electrification Administration paired electric cooperatives that had financial, project
management and technical capability with those without to ensure their compliance.

“Apparently, sa matuwid na daan, it can be done very quietly. We set up the infrastructure and the processes and we will know by December 30, we will know if kaya or mangyayari. We want to make sure na umabot pera sa intended purpose, which is electrification,” Almendras said.

Next year, the DOE received a P2.5 billion budget for the project on top of whatever savings it can generate.

“If we can pull this off, imagine we did P1.3 billion in one quarter. Looks like we can do P2.5 billion in the first six months, and again if there are savings, we can deploy more than what was budgeted by Congress for sitio electrification,” the DOE chief said.

Almendras, however, said that the DOE is still faced with a number of concerns that could affect the pace of the electrification program.

“Tumaas na yung presyo ng posts and wires so next year we need to address that,” he said. –Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo, Manila Times