The National Power's Small Power Utilities Group filed its "Motion for Provisional Authority to Avail of UCME for 2010" under ERC Case No. 2009-028RC on 29 June 2010 with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

       It may be recalled that on 17 August 2009, the ERC granted NPC-SPUG's "Urgent Motion for Issuance of a Provisional Authority" it filed on 08 June 2009 in connection with its 2009-2013 UCME petition of 15 May 2009. The issuance of the Provisional Authority (PA) authorized the annual release of PhP 5,693,209,190.00 (0.0978 PhP/kWh) for NPC-SPUG's missionary electrification for 2009.

       In its new motion, NPC-SPUG stated that the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) released only PhP 1.420 billion for 2009, of which, PhP 223 million represented the balance of the UCME for 2008, leaving PhP 1.2 billion as subsidy for 2009. However, the total subsidy requirements for 2009 amounted to approximately PhP 4.9 billion. For CY 2010, as stated in the new motion, subsidy requirements amount to PhP 13,921,393.00 (0.2289 PhP/kWh).

       NPC-SPUG likewise reiterated its prayer for flexibility in the utilization of the UCME to enable it to adapt to the dynamic nature of missionary electrification.

       The Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UCME) is a non-bypassable charge that is collected from all end-users of electricity on a monthly basis by the Distribution Utilities or Suppliers in case of Contestable Markets. It is determined, fixed and approved by the ERC for the implementation of the Missionary Electrification Development Plan (MEDP).

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"SPUG FILES MOTION FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY TO AVAIL OF UCME FOR CY 2010"