Allow BNPP to operate to reduce electricity rates: congressman
The cost of electricity energy will reduce significantly once the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant goes into operation, a lawmaker said on Saturday.
In a radio interview, Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco, chairman of the House Special Committee on Nuclear Energy, said the cost of electric energy is expected to go down to P1.30 to P3.50 per kilowatt hour once the government activates the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant that was completed in 1984.
"In the capital recovery period, let's say theoretically we have spent two billion dollars, so it will not exceed P3.50 per kilowatt hour during the capital recovery period, plus profit period. It means we will let the investor recover his capital and earn a little, of 14 percent earnings, that is the rules of ERC, that is for 20 years, it will be less than three pesos and 50 centavos," he said.
"After that 20 years, after the capital recovery period, its operating maintenance cost, including the fuel, regulatory fee, end of life decommissioning trust and waste disposal decommissioning trust, it will be around one peso and 30 centavos per kilowatt hour. That is the magic of nuclear (power)," he added.
Cojuangco said a nuclear plant has a lifespan of 80 years.
"Yes, after 20 years, the life of a nuclear plant is 80 years, we will still benefit from the low electricity cost for another 60 years," he said.
Cojuangco expressed belief that if the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was just used after its completion the country might not experience an energy crisis.
"I did not file proposal to open Bataan (Nuclear Power Plant) but I believed that it should have been opened a long time ago and if we just opened it in 1986, we will not have crisis that we are talking right now, because we do not have it, 55 percent of our electricity comes from imported coal or carbon," he said. Robina Asido/DMS
