QUEZON CITY, (PIA) --The Department of Energy (DOE) reminds all electricity consumers nationwide who are in the list of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) administered by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to register with their distribution utilities (DUs) to continue availing of the discount for lifeline consumers.

Beginning August 2023, 4Ps electricity consumers who have not registered with their DUs will no longer receive rate discounts.

Applications to avail of the lifeline rate program shall continue to be processed by the DUs but discounts will be effective only upon registration.

Based on the data provided by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to the DOE, only 1,816 consumers out of 24 million 4Ps beneficiaries nationwide have applied for the lifeline program, as of 10 July 2023.

Further, only 31 DUs have received lifeline program applications while 110 DUs have not received a single application as of the same date.

The subsidy is provided under Republic Act (RA) No. 11552, or an Act Extending and Enhancing the Implementation of the Lifeline Rate, Amending for the Purpose Section 73 of RA 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).

Under the said Act, the lifeline or subsidized rates are given to low-income customers using electricity below 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month who cannot afford to pay their bills at full cost. (doe/pia-ncr)