PH may achieve full electrification only by 2033 – lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines may not achieve full electrification until 2033, five years later than the government’s target, Camarines Sur Rep. Arnie Fuentebella said Wednesday.

Fuentebella said connecting remote rural areas to the electric grid could cost as much as P67 billion, with funding shortfalls potentially delaying the National Electrification Administration’s (NEA) rollout.

He made the remarks on the House of Representatives floor in response to Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Sarah Elago, who asked, “When will we achieve nearly 100 percent electrification?”

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“We need P67 billion, and it will be done by 2033. Because of budgetary constraints… that’s why NEA is asking for additional funding for our sitio electrification,” said Fuentebella, who sponsored the Energy Department’s proposed funding for next year.

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NEA was allotted P5.63 billion under its national rural electrification program as part of its planned funding for 2027.

READ: Gatchalian enjoins NEA to complete rural electrification program by 2028

About three million households in the Philippines remain without electricity, underscoring the technical challenge of fully electrifying the archipelago, where communities are scattered across the country’s more than 7,000 islands.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his state address last year, said his administration had provided electricity access to 2.5 million households since 2022 and that the government aims to completely energize the country by 2028, when his term ends. /mcm