The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Riza Lozada
State-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) posted a net income of P1.6 billion in 2016 which was lower than last year, based on its report to the Commission on Audit (COA).
In 2015, the state-owned firm recorded P4.9 billion in net income and P2.5 billion in retained earnings, marking a complete turnaround from its net loss of P2.78 billion in 2010.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has provisionally approved the P0.1163 per kilowatt-hour basic Universal Charge Missionary Electrification (UCME) from P0.0454 to P0.1561 per kwh, thus, allowing Napocor to fund most of the expenses using current revenues.
Collection efficiency improved for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao excluding Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
Napocor procured 56 new generating sets with total capacity of 13.55 megawatts and distributed to 47 Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) power plants.
Extended service hours of 26 SPUG plants were given including Itbayat and Sabtang in Batanes, Polilio in Quezon, Araceli and Rizal in Palawan, Pilar Island in Cebu and San Antonio in Northern Samar.
Napocor completed transmission line projects including the rehabilitation of the 87km 69 kV Mamburao-Sablayan-Ligaya; 61.23 Km 69 kV Bansud-Mansalay and the extension of the 69 kV Mobo-Aroroy transmission lines. It has likewise completed the 10 MVA Virac (Marinawa substation) in Catanduanes.
Napocor fully energized in 2016 the 111 km 69 kV Puerto Princesa to Roxas transmission line in Palawan which is a significant fraction of the Palawan backbone transmission. The project, which was stalled for seven years due to right of way concerns, was one of the priority projects of Sta. Rita when she assumed office in 2013.
Napocor rehabilitated 1,881 hectares of open lands within its 11 watershed areas and conducted mandatory safety inspections to its dams to ensure safety of communities downstream. These watershed and dams that the corporation manage support power generation.
“The good financial position of the corporation for 2016 is attributed to the corporation’s fiscal prudence and good governance practices. The restructured tariff recovery approach, more proactive recovery of the Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UCME) and sustained high collection efficiency also helped in maintaining our good financial standing,” said Napocor President Ma. Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita.
“We owe our sound collection efficiency to the dialogues we have been organizing with our customers since the past three years. These dialogues paved the way for a better and faster communication line and better services we give to our customers,” Sta. Rita said.