Napocor seeks P427 M fund to manage watershed areas

MANILA, Philippines – The National Power Corp. (Napocor) wants to tap P427 million from the environmental fund under the universal charge (UC) to rehabilitate and manage several watershed areas under its jurisdiction.

Napocor filed a petition with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the availment of the environmental charge (EC) from the UC for its “Plan 13” for watershed areas.

Plan 13, or its proposed plan for calendar year 2016, covers six watersheds: the Upper Agno Watershed Reservation, Angat Watershed Reservation, Caliraya-Lumot Watershed Reservation, Makiling-Banahaw Geothermal Reservations, Buhi-Barat Watershed and Tiwi Geothermal Reservation.

The plan also covers San Roque Watershed (Lower Agno), which it manages; the Pantabangan and Magat Watersheds, where the state-run firm has a sharing scheme with National Irrigation Administration; and Lake Lanao-Agus River and Pulangi Watershed Area, where it has a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Through the plan, Napocor will address the issue on climate change and other watershed related concerns.

These include the rehabilitation through vegetative measures of 2,216 hectares, planting of 1.3 million trees, protection of more than 150,000 hectares of new plantations, reduction of sedimentation and soil erosion inside reforestation areas and increasing biodiversity through conservation and ecotourism programs.

The UC is a component in electricity bills to reduce the financial obligations of  Napocor. It consists of stranded contract cost, missionary charge and the environmental fund.

“UC-EC is a different fund from Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UCME). It is one fourth of one centavo per kilowatt-hour of the electric bill and is used for the watershed areas of about 470,000 hectares nationwide,” Napocor president Ma. Gladys Sta. Rita said in a text message.