THE National Electrification Administration (NEA) said it expects to achieve its full electrification target in the next five years.
“Challenge accepted. By 2028, 100% electrification. I will make sure that the Sitio Electrification Program funds are utilized well,” NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano C. Almeda said in a statement on Tuesday.
Energy Assistant Secretary and NEA board of administrators alternate Chairman Mario C. Marasigan said that NEA is actively guiding electric cooperatives to complete their own total electrification programs.
Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 tasks the NEA with overseeing missionary electrification and providing financial, institutional and technical assistance to electric cooperatives.
NEA will also assist with the implementing rules and regulations of the Microgrid Systems Act, which aims to accelerate total electrification in unserved and underserved areas.
The DoE estimates that at the end of 2021, the household electrification rate was 95.41%, equivalent to 25.02 million households. A total of 1.1 million households remain without electricity.
Luzon has an electrification rate of 98.7%, the Visayas 96.8%, and Mindanao at 86%.
Last year, former NEA Administrator Emmanuel P. Juaneza said that the main obstacle to total electrification is the lack of funds, adding that P1.5 million is needed to energize a single sitio with 10 households.
Mr. Almeda added that NEA also plans to mitigate power rate hikes by increasing the use of renewable energy by electric cooperatives. — Ashley Erika O. Jose