PD 269 Chapter I - POLICY AND DEFINITIONS (Section 1–3) — Full Text

Title.

Section 1

SECTION 1. Title. — This Decree shall be referred to as the "National Electrification Administration Decree."

Declaration of National Policy.

SEC. 2. Declaration of National Policy. — The total electrification of the Philippines on an area coverage basis being vital to the welfare of its people and the sound development of the Nation, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the State to pursue and foster, in an orderly and vigorous manner, the attainment of this objective. For this purpose, the State shall promote, encourage and assist all public service entities engaged in supplying electric service, particularly electric cooperatives, which are willing to pursue diligently this objective. Because of their non-profit nature, cooperative character and the heavy financial burdens that they must sustain to become effectively established and operationally viable, electric cooperatives, particularly, shall be given every tenable support and assistance by the National Government, its instrumentalities and agencies to the fullest extent of which they are capable; and, being by their nature substantially self-regulating and Congress having, by the enactment of this Decree, substantially covered all phases of their organization and operation requiring or justifying regulation, and in order to further encourage and promote their development, they should be subject to minimal regulation by other administrative agencies. Area coverage electrification cannot be achieved unless service to the more thinly settled areas and therefore more costly to electrify is combined with service to the most densely settled areas and therefore less costly to electrify. Every public service entity should hereafter cooperate in a national program of electrification on an area coverage basis, or else surrender its franchise in favor of those public service entities which will. It is hereby found that the total electrification of the Nation requires that the laws and administrative practices relating to franchised electric service areas be revised and made more effective, as herein provided. It is therefore hereby declared to be the policy of the State that franchises for electric service areas shall hereafter be so issued, conditioned, altered or repealed, and shall be subject to such continuing regulatory surveillance, that the same shall conduce to the most expeditious electrification of the entire Nation on an area coverage basis.

Definitions.

Section 3

SEC. 3. Definitions. — As used in this Decree, the following words or terms shall have the following meanings, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context; (a) "NEA" shall mean the National Electrification Administration, "Board of Administrators" shall mean the Board of Administrators, and "Administrator" shall mean the Administrator, all as provided for in this Decree. (b) "Cooperative" shall mean a corporation organized under Republic Act No. 6038 or this Decree or a cooperative supplying or empowered to supply service which has heretofore been organized under the Philippine Non-Agricultural Cooperative Act, whether converted under this Decree or not. (c) "Public service entities" shall mean (1) a cooperative, (2) the NPC, and (3) local governments and privately-owned public service entities in operation which furnish and are empowered to furnish retail electric service. (d) "Person" shall mean any natural person, firm, association, cooperative, corporation, business trust, partnership, the National Government or any political subdivision, agency or instrumentality thereof. (e) "Service" shall mean electric service, either at wholesale or retail, including the furnishing of any auxiliary or related service; (f) "Dependable and adequate service" shall mean service that, consistent with normal standards and levels of service based upon good utility management and operating practices, is sufficient .in quantity, having regard for the demands for service currently existing and reasonably anticipated within the foreseeable future, and that is accessible on a constant and continuous basis except for outages occasioned by the need for normal repair, maintenance, construction or renovation work or by acts beyond the reasonable ability of the public service entity to prevent or control. (g) "Area" shall mean (1) the geographic area franchised to a public service entity or (2) any lesser geographic area for the furnishing of retail service to which a public service entity pursuant to this Decree borrows, or may apply to borrow, funds from the NEA, or may otherwise secure loans with the approval of the NEA, to finance the acquisition or construction and operation, maintenance or renovation of service facilities. (h) "Area coverage" shall mean dependable and adequate service that, on the basis of reasonable and standard extension and service policies, rates, charges and other terms and conditions, will be or is being made available to all persons within the affected area as above defined who request such service and are able and willing to abide by and comply with all such reasonable and standard terms and conditions, regardless of the relative location of such persons within the affected area or of their proximity to existing or proposed service facilities: Provided, that the financial feasibility of the public service entity's entire operation is not thereby impaired. (i) "Interest rate per centum per annum" shall mean an interest rate that is accrued solely upon the unpaid balance of any loan principal which has actually been advanced to a borrower and upon any interest payment which has Become due or been deferred and has not been paid by the borrower, computed on an annual basis. (j) "Loan" shall mean a loan the total principal amount of which, as and when required for application to the purposes thereof, is, at the time of the making thereof, assured from funds that are or will become available therefor. (k) "NEDA" shall mean National Economic and Development Authority or any successor instrumentality that may hereafter be established to perform the same or substantially similar function; "NPC" shall mean National Power Corporation, and "NEDA-FS" shall mean National Economic and Development Authority-Foreign Source. (l) "Board of Power and Waterworks" shall mean Board of Power and Waterworks or any successor board, agency or instrumentality that may hereafter be established to perform the same or substantially similar functions. (m) "Franchise" shall mean the privilege extended to a person to operate an electric system for service to the public at retail within a described geographic area, whether such privilege had been granted by the Congress, by a municipal, city or provincial government or, as herein provided, by the NEA. (n) "Non-profit" shall mean that a cooperative shall not engage in business for the purpose of making a profit for itself or its patrons, but it shall not mean that a cooperative may not account on a patronage basis to its patrons for any receipts in excess of its expenses in relation to its operations in serving such patrons or in relation to investment of any of its surplus funds pending their use by the cooperative or their refund to patrons; nor shall it mean such excess receipts may not be refunded to its patrons, or may not be converted into patron-furnished capital subject to later redemption and retirement by the cooperative. (o) "Board" shall mean the board of directors of a cooperative. (p) "Household" shall mean a non-seasonal dwelling, capable of receiving service safely, including apartments and other dwelling combinations. (q) "Congress" shall mean the President during his exercise of Martial Law, or the National Assembly under the new Constitution of 1973, whichever is the case at any given time. (r) "President" shall mean the President of the Philippines during the existence of Martial Law, or the Prime Minister when the National Assembly comes into existence.

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3