Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco welcomed the signing of Republic Act 11234 or the Energy Virtual One Stop Shop (EVOSS) Act by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, saying the measure aimed at streamlining the permitting process of power generation, transmission, and distribution projects would reduce the cost of doing business in the country, and encourage investors.
Under the new law, prospective power generation,
transmission or distribution companies can apply, monitor and receive all the
necessary permits, and even pay for charges and fees, through the online
platform called EVOSS once it takes effect, cutting down the lengthy permitting
process that has turned off investors in the past.
The system will be managed and maintained by the Department
of Energy (DOE), while its operations will be monitored by the EVOSS Steering
Committee, the law says.
“There will be a marked reduction in the cost of doing
business for power generation companies,” Velasco said. “This would encourage
competition by attracting more power generation companies to invest in the
country, and most importantly, this would translate to lower generation charges
because of the reduced cost of doing business.”
By reducing the red tape in the permitting process of new
power plants, the lawmaker said, more energy firms—foreign and local—would be
lured into investing into the country.
“The usual cost of building power plants regardless of
technology will be greatly lessened by EVOSS. We expect the electricity
generation costs to go down because of lesser financial costs on the part of
the investors,” Velasco said.
By stimulating the power generation investment in the
country, EVOSS is seen to greatly help the Philippines prepare in addressing
its energy requirements in the future, he added.
