U.S. $60M TARGETS PHL POWER WOES
The US is putting $60 million into the parts of Philippine power that decide what electricity costs and whether it stays on.
The US is putting $60 million into the parts of Philippine power that decide what electricity costs and whether it stays on.
The US is giving the Philippines $60 million to help make electricity cheaper and more reliable.
That's P3.8 billion.
It will not pay anyone's Meralco bill, nor build a giant new power plant.
The money will go into fixing parts of the system behind the bill: the regulators, the electric co-ops, the grid, the rules that investors have to deal with.
The timing was perfect.
On the same day the deal was signed, the Visayas grid went on red alert.
There was not enough power to comfortably cover what people and businesses were expected to use.
Several power plants were down.
That is exactly the kind of problem the new US program is supposed to help the country handle better over time.
US Ambassador Lee Lipton and Finance Secretary Frederick Go signed the agreement in Manila on 10 September.
The program will also test smarter power-grid tech so operators can see problems faster and manage electricity better.
The bigger goal is to make the Philippine power sector less messy and more attractive to investors.
That matters because the Philippines, the US and Japan are trying to bring more factories and major projects into Luzon through the Luzon Economic Corridor.
