The Department of Energy (DOE) said it is not setting any deadline for the registration of household beneficiaries listed under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to the electricity lifeline rate program.
But the DOE said households have to register to enjoy the discounts on their electricity bills starting September.
Luningning Baltazar, director of DOE’s Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, said at the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday only around 12,900 out of the 4.2 million total registered 4Ps nationwide have registered to their respective distribution utilities (DUs) as of end-July.
“Availing the discount is subject to registration. If you are not registered by August, the billing you will receive for September or October will be the actual amount that you need to pay and has no discount. However, since this program runs until 2025, registration will continue.Even if the targeted implementation will start by September, they can register anytime,” Baltazar said.
For example, lifeline end-users in the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) franchise area with zero to 20 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of monthly consumption will be granted a 100- percent discount on generation charges, including system loss, transmission and distribution components of their bill except for the fixed metering charge of P5. This means they will only be paying more or less P20 in their electric bills.
Meralco is holding barangay caravans within its franchise area to encourage more beneficiaries of the lifeline rate program.
