Razon-led MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) has conducted on-site registration at the barangay level to entice 4Ps beneficiaries and other marginalized power consumers knowns as "lifeline consumers" to avail of electricity rate discounts mandated by law.

The company said it will primarily reach out to the 4Ps or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries as well as the other residential subscribers that are on the consumption threshold of 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) and below.

The exact date and venue of the barangay on-site registration, according to MORE Power, will be posted correspondingly on its official Facebook page.

“The full rollout of the subsidy application has been extended by the Department of Energy (DOE) until September due to low application turnout,” the company conveyed.

MORE Power President and CEO Roel Castro announced that the power utility will “get in touch directly with the groups concerned so more qualified customers can avail of the program.”

He reiterated that apart from accepting applications in their office, “we also deploy personnel to barangays for on-site registration."

The set of requirements that 4Ps-beneficiaries would have to present for registration shall be: their filled-up application form, latest electricity bill, government-issued ID and 4Ps ID.

MORE Power expounded that “marginalized end-users or households with five members but only have a combined monthly income of P12,030 can also apply for lifeline subsidy.”

It added that for marginalized end-users, the additional requirement they will have to submit shall be a certification from the local Social Welfare Development Office (SWDO) “which proves that their family income is below the poverty threshold set by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).”

The lifeline subsidy is a 100-percent discount for those with 20 kWh of usage or less, meaning they will not pay a single centavo in their bills, as prescribed under the Extended Lifeline Subsidy Law or Republic Act 11552.

The other schedules of rate discounts shall be: 10-percent for those with 81 kWh and 95 kWh usage; 20-percent for those in the 71 kWh-80 kWh consumption bracket; 35-percent if the consumer’s usage is between 61 kWh to 70 kWh; 45 percent for those in the 51kWh to 60 kWh threshold; then 50 percent discount for 21 kWh to 50 kWh level of consumption.

Castro narrated that as of Aug. 2 this year, the scale of applications already received by MORE Power hovered at 1,519 subscribers. These came from 42 barangays straddling its service areas in Iloilo City.

As the utility firm widens the avenues where qualified consumers can register for the rate discounts, Castro has intensified his call on eligible applicants “to take advantage of the subsidy program as MORE Power has brought the application closer to customers.”

As stated by Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla, total beneficiaries of the rate discounts could top 4.2 million. These are the residential end-users who have been relentlessly urging government leaders to find ways to bring down electricity rates that they will be paying for in their monthly electric bills.

"There are 4.2 million household-beneficiaries of 4Ps, and the registration for lifeline subsidy remains very low. Only those who register will continue to receive a reduction in their electricity bills beginning August 2023," the energy chief stressed.