Official: Napocor to get paid P4.2B for BNPP

State-owned National Power Corp. will get reimbursed by the national government for P4.2 billion it spent in maintaining the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, a Napocor official said Tuesday. Froilan Tampinco, Napocor president told reporters they asked the government for the money advanced in the maintenance of the nuclear plant. The money will be used for its island and off-grid area operations, he said. The government has already agreed to reimburse the advances, "hopefully within the next few weeks" and the funds may be coursed through the Department of Budget and Management, he said. "We will use that exclusively for SPUG (Small Power Utilities Group) areas, for fuel purchases," the Napocor official said. SPUG is the missionary electrification arm of Napocor. It operates 157 power plants with a combined capacity of almost 200 megawatts in far-flung islands that are not connected to the main grids. Napocor-SPUG has entered into separate agreements with local government units in Cebu, Siquijor, Palawan, and Romblon to help pay off its debts to power suppliers and continue supplying electricity in those areas. "We will offset it in their power bills. It's an advance payment to us for the electric cooperative and we will offset it [in] their power bill," he said. Napocor is in dire straits over its finances, because of a recent legal opinion by the Justice Department prohibiting the power firm from borrowing more money including selling bonds. — VS, GMA News