THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will hold further in-depth discussions with industry stakeholders on the draft rules on bill deposits.
It has scheduled focus group discussions on the draft “Rules to Govern the Monitoring and Reporting Process of Bill Deposits” at the ERC office on July 12, and at the Benguet Electric Cooperative, Inc. (BENECO) office in Baguio City on July 18.
Bill deposits collected from residential and non-residential consumers are intended to guarantee the payment of electricity bills for new and/or additional service and from disconnected consumers who were previously not subject to bill deposit. The bill deposit shall be equivalent to the estimated billing for one month based on the load schedule of the consumer to guarantee payment.
The draft rules shall apply to the provisions of Articles 7 and 28 of the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers (MREC), the Guidelines to Implement Articles 7 and 28 of the MREC, and the provisions of Distribution Service and Open Access Rules.
The ERC had issued in October 2004 the Guidelines to Implement Articles 7, 8, 14 and 28 of Chapter III of the MREC, which govern, among others, the guidelines and procedures to implement the bill deposits collected from residential and non-residential consumers.
The draft rules include a provision on the preparation and submission of periodic report on or before December 31 of every year, regarding the details of the total amount of bill deposit collected including interest earned and the amount credited or refunded to its consumers.
“For purposes of transparency, the proposed rules shall enjoin distribution utilities to maintain and develop in their official websites, consumer information disclosing all important terms and conditions, systems and procedures on bill deposits in clear and comprehensible language for the consumers.” ERC Chairman Agnes VST Devanadera said.
Electric cooperatives were directed to submit their comments and/or inputs on the said draft Rules within 10 days from receipt of the notice.