Bicam committee approves EE&C Act, thanks PE2
SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Pasay City, 16 January 2019 – The Bicameral Conference Committee convened to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill 1531 and House Bill 8629 met today and approved the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EE&C) Act.
Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, as chairman of the Senate Panel, announced that this was a significant milestone capping the three-decade legislative process of enabling this law since the 8th Congress. Senator Gatchalian thanked PE2 president Alexander Ablaza, and other energy efficiency market stakeholders, for all the efforts in pushing this vital measure in the last few years.
The deliberations on the two bills were generally smooth. The Senate and House panels nonetheless spent time fine-tuning the section on fiscal incentives and the role of local government units (LGUs).
The bicameral committee agreed to re-anchor the fiscal incentives provision on existing Executive Order No. 226, otherwise known as the Omnibus Investments Code of 1987, as amended. It however considered the last-minute recommendation of the Department of Finance (DOF) to reduce the period of mandatory inclusion of energy efficiency projects in the investment priorities plan of the Board of Investments from the House-proposed 15 years to an adjusted 10 years. The Senate panel said this adjustment reflects a reasonable balance between the incentive rationalization objectives of DOF and the requirements of private investors. The House panel agreed with the compromise reduction, but wanted to put on record that every peso of granted incentives to energy efficiency projects will result in a P 2.31 reflow to the national treasury in the form of additional tax revenues, in addition to other socio-economic benefits. The conferees from both chambers likewise agreed to exempt energy efficiency investments from Article 32(1) of E.O. 226, thereby enabling foreign-owned projects to avail of fiscal incentives.
The Senate and House panels also agreed to insert clearer language that mandates LGUs to establish energy efficiency and conservation offices and appoint energy efficiency and conservation officers, with the option to do so within the existing plantilla and resource framework of the LGUs.
The bicameral body also accepted the Senate panel’s recommendation to include a new section that would encourage innovative procurement, contracting and financing procedures for government-implemented energy efficiency projects in public facilities. The conferees also added the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Science and Technology in the composition of the proposed Inter-Agency Energy Efficiency and Conservation Committee.
Senators Gatchalian, as panel chair, and Maria Lourdes Nancy S. Binay represented the Senate panel, which also includes Senators Franklin M. Drilon, Loren B. Legarda and Antonio F. Trillanes IV. The House panel was chaired by Rep. Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco, and was also represented today by panel members, Reps. Jose Enrique S. Garcia III, Eric L. Olivarez, Orestes T. Salon, Mark Aeron H. Sambar, Reynaldo V. Umali, and Carlos Roman L. Uybarreta.
Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2) president Alexander Ablaza participated as a resource person invited by the Senate panel.
Ablaza said that the EE&C bill, as closely reviewed and approved by the bicameral committee, is now in a form that effectively narrows the positional gaps between the government and the private sector. “Both sides contributed largely to consensual draft law, which PE2 believes well prepares the bill for approval by the President,” he explained.
