THE GOVERNMENT will study the proposed extension of preferential power rates for businesses in economic zones (ecozones), officials told reporters on Friday.
“We’re studying the special rates for ecozones and we’re also going to need to talk with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and Napocor (National Power Corp.) about it,” said Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras in an ambush interview at the Department of Energy.
PEZA, distribution utility Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. (SEIPI) have requested the government to extend the special electricity rate accorded to ecozone locators until Dec. 12, 2012.
The Ecozone Rate Program for PEZA-accredited industries — an offshoot of an agreement between Meralco and Napocor — will expire on Dec. 25.
Napocor said it will need to talk with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) about the proposed extension.
“The decision to extend has to go through the board first and it also needs to be discussed at the ERC level… we hope the issue will be resolved before the deadline,” said Napocor President Froilan A. Tampinco.
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Source: Business World, Oct. 28, 2011
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