The registration shift of some electric cooperatives to the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) will redound to P0.29 to P0.40 per kilowatt hour (kWh) reduction in their electricity rates due to value added tax (VAT) exemptions set under a governing policy.

In a press conference, APEC Secretary General Luis Manuel Corral noted that the key benefit of shifting registration to the CDA as compared previously with the National Electrification Administration (NEA) will be the lower rates that electric cooperatives can pass on to their customers. The VAT exemption will be on the distribution components of the rates.

Out of the 119 electric cooperatives in the country though, there are just 12 ECs which are currently registered with the CDA and the rest are still under the National Electrification Administration. These include Negros Occidental Electric Coop.; Palawan Electric Coop; San Jose Electric Coop; Quirino Electric Coop; Pangasinan Electric Coops I and III; Isabela Electric Coop; Sorsogon Electric Coop; Nueva Vizcaya Electric Coop; Negros Oriental II Electric Coop and Abra Electric Coop.

“It is still their choice not to register with the CDA but they would have to explain to their customers why they can’t bring down their rates,” Corral noted.

Palawan Electric Cooperative Inc. general manager Ponciano D. Payuyo surmised that many of their counterparts are still adamant from getting out of NEA’s domain perhaps due to “the bigger responsibility and the call for transparency” that they would need to adhere to if they shift registration.