Reorg of 6 energy-related agencies 99% complete

The organizational restructuring of the six energy-related government agencies is now 99-percent complete, the Department of Energy (DOE) said.

In a report to Malacanang, Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez said the DOE has accomplished a 99-percent of its institutional strengthening as mandated by Administrative Order 38.

AO 38 redefines the functions and services of the DOE’s bureaus, service units and offices to meet the challenges brought about by the liberalization of the country’s oil and power industries.

"As a result of this exercise, more than 260 employees at the DoE were promoted to higher level positions. Several employees were also separated either due to the re-classification of functions or their decision to avail of the separation package offered," Perez said.

The DOE now has a lean workforce of 600 employees despite the creation of two new bureaus – the Oil Industry Management Bureau and the Electric Power Industry Management Bureau – to handle the new mandates of the department under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act and the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act.

Three new offices at the DOE were established, namely the Natural Gas Office, Consumer Welfare Promotion Office and Energy Investments Promotion Office.

While the three other bureaus – Energy Resource Development Bureau (ERDB), Energy Utilization Management Bureau (EUMB), and the Energy Policy and Planning Bureau (EPPB) – were retained, their functions were further strengthened to formulate and implement policies and programs in the exploration and production of energy sources as well as in the development of new energy technologies and alternative fuels.

Also reorganized were, other energy-related government agencies such as the National Power Corp. (Napocor), National Electrification Administration (NEA) and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Following the enactment of the EPIRA, the (Napocor) was spun off into two separate agencies to handle the generation and transmission aspects separately. Napocor turned over its transmission and sub-transmission functions to the newly-created National Transmission Corp. (Transco).

Another entity – the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) – was created with the passage of EPIRA.