Press Release
February 16, 2017

JV EJERCITO SCORES EPIRA LAW IMPLEMENTATION ANEW

Senator JV Ejercito today scored the implementation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 which he said has fallen short in delivering its promise to provide for reliable, secure, and affordable sources of energy.

"Fifteen years already passed and yet the EPIRA Law has failed to deliver its desired outcome to provide for cheaper and reliable sources of energy. The EPIRA Law was also drafted for the protection of consumers. Kaya ang ipinagtataka ko, bakit sa pagbabayad ng system loss, damay tayo as consumers, pero kapag usapang profit, hindi kailanman nasama ang consumers," Ejercito told Energy Regulation Commission officials at the Committee on Energy hearing, which assessed the implementation of the EPIRA law.

Ejercito also pointed out that even the EPIRA Law's goal to encourage competition among power players fell short.

"The current EPIRA law allows generation and distribution companies to go into the transmission business. With this system, privatization and monopoly of the sector happened, but the lowering of cost of electricity never happened. This is why I am proposing for an additional amendment for generation companies to be prohibited to go into distribution and vice versa to level the playing field in the sector," the senator said, citing his proposed measure Senate Bill No. 156.

Ejercito said this unfortunate scenario should open our minds to tap other reliable and cheaper sources of energy.

"If we really want our economy to take off and reach its full potential, we should find solutions to bring down the cost of electricity. Right now the cheapest source of energy is nuclear. We should consider adding the combination of renewable energy plus nuclear in our current power mix," he said.

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