SMALL POWER UTILITIES GROUP
NPC’s takeover of the island grid power plants, 69 kV transmission lines and substations from the various electric cooperatives in mid- 1988 paved the way for the creation of a small island grid unit in NPC at about the same time. Eventually, the unit evolved into what is now known as SPUG.
Pursuant to President Corazon C. Aquino’s directive to set the ceiling selling rate to end-users at P2.50 per kWh, NPC and the National Electrification Administration (NEA) reduced the selling rate in the islands via a subsidy scheme both in the distribution and generation areas. SPUG’s initial selling rate to its customers was pegged at P1.30/kWh in 1988.
The present rates, which are based on the Subsidized/Approved Generation Rates (SAGR) were approved by the ERC on 04 December 2004 through its Order on ERC Case No. 2004-449. The schedule of new rates are shown in Error! Reference source not found.. However, these are still far below SPUG’s production cost which averaged 13.7906 per kWh in 2006.
NPC-SPUG operates 298 generating units with total rated capacity of 135.786 MW. This nationwide operation is composed of 81 land-based diesel power plants, 1 hydroelectric plant, 1 hybrid wind turbine farm and 11 barge-mounted mobile power plants. It serves 67 island grids and 8 isolated grids, 192 municipalities and 3,330 barangays. It has 42 customers consisting of 39 electric cooperatives and 3 local government units.
Presently, 28% or 20 of the island grids provide 24-hour electric service, while the remaining 72% or 52 of the grids are operating less than 24 hours
