|
COULD
the government’s thrust to bring down power rates
particularly help the industry, at a time when almost
all prices factored in to electricity bills are at an
all-time high?
This is what some stakeholders asked
during a presentation made by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco)
at the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (PCCI)
Energy Forum on Friday.
A source, who requested anonymity, told
the BusinessMirror the government seems to have singled
out Meralco among other distribution utilities in its
campaign to bring down rates.
If it really wants to bring down rates,
the government should also focus on the other
distribution utilities.
“Based on our simulations, the five
proposals the Department of Trade and Industry [DTI]
submitted to the Energy Regulatory Commission [ERC]
would result in P46.12 billion in losses to be incurred
by Meralco,” Christian Monsod, Meralco director, told
attendees of the forum organized by the PCCI.
The Meralco official noted that the
amended petition of the DTI targets Meralco only.
The DTI’s petition, Monsod noted,
suggests that Meralco should expand coverage of or
increase the discounts under the lifeline rate within
the its franchise area only, and to absorb lifeline
discounts, and that it refund subsidies already paid by
subsidizing customers.
The petition suggests that Meralco
should buy more from the Wholesale Electricity Spot
Market (WESM) during off-peak hours, and extend
preferential treatment to poor households and
power-intensive industries in the allocation of
transmission charges.
Monsod said the DTI’s petition also
asks the ERC to mandate Meralco to stop billing system
losses to customers.
The petition would even have Meralco
charge-distribution rates equal to or lower than those
of Visayan Electric, Cagayan Electric, or Davao Light.
Ivanna de la Peña, Meralco vice
president and head for utility economics, noted that the
petitions are “asking us to absorb” the system loss and
the lifeline subsidies.
“All these cross subsidies, lifeline
subsidies and system-loss recoveries are all in
accordance [with law],” she added. For his part, Jesus
Francisco, Meralco president and chief operating
officer, said they have been doing their part in helping
bring down power rates.
Meralco remains optimistic that it can
bring down its system-loss level to 9 percent by the end
of the year, or lower than the 9.5-percent threshold on
system losses.
“If we are able to bring down systems
loss to 9 percent, it will result in a reduction of at
least P0.03 per kilowatt—which will be translated next
year. And there is still six months left, but Meralco
will do [its] best to bring it down, and we’re hitting
our goals in the first five months,” Francisco said.
ERC Chairman Rodolfo Albano Jr. earlier
said the ERC is also looking at issuing a provisional
authority to temporarily address the DTI’s petition to
require Meralco to shoulder the lifeline-rate subsidy
that certain customer classes provide to marginalized
customers.
“The resolution of this petition—should
it be through a provisional authority or a final
order—will depend on the evidence the petitioner would
exhibit to the commission for examination,” Albano said.
In its petition, DTI noted there is no
provision in the Electricity and Power Industry Reform
Act that authorizes a lifeline subsidy to be paid by
other classes of consumers, and that any implementing
rules or resolutions of the commission to the contrary
are void and not authorized by law.
The current setup of the lifeline-
subsidy program of Meralco makes bigger customer classes
shoulder the lifeline discounts given to marginalized
customers. |
