Flattening economies and killing hundreds of thousands of people, the Covid-19 pandemic has been causing unprecedented devastation and suffering around the world. The resultant health and economic crises, however, present a great opportunity for businesses to show genuine concern for customers in the communities where they do business. Now is a good time for them to demonstrate good corporate citizenship.
The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Monday got a shower of plaudits from House Deputy Speaker Johnny Pimentel for promptly paying the P19 million fine earlier imposed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for its failure to establish a mandatory bill installment payment plan for customers during the enhanced community quarantine. “Meralco’s action demonstrates good corporate citizenship that should be emulated by all firms in highly regulated sectors, especially those enjoying exclusive congressional franchises,” Pimentel said.
The commendation came amid a barrage of negative press from Bayan Muna Party-list representatives saying that “Meralco’s refusal to implement the P200 million relief for lifeline electricity users is really anti-poor.” The ERC earlier ordered Meralco to extend an aggregate discount of P200 million plus to all of its lifeline consumers. This will cover end-users with base consumption of zero to 100 kilowatt hours.
Meralco Spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga, however, put the issue to rest when he said in a radio interview that Meralco will comply with the ERC ruling on the P200 million lifeline discount. He categorically said the utility company has paid the penalty imposed by ERC and will implement the zero rating in the distribution charges for lifeline consumers.
Meralco said roughly 2.77 million lifeline customers will have discounts ranging from P114 to P206 in their electric bills in October, in line with the utility firm’s implementation of the ERC sanctions. Based on the company’s calculation, if the distribution, supply, and metering charges of the lifeline users will be set to zero, the total discount for households with 100 kilowatt hours (kwhs) of consumption will be as much as P206.47; while those in the 70kwh level will get a discount of P151.05. Further, the marginalized consumers with usage of 50kwh will not be charged P114.10 worth of DSM charges in their electric bills in October.
The Meralco electricity bill includes many components, including the distribution rate, transmission, generation, taxes and other charges. The Energy Regulatory Commission regulates Meralco’s distribution rate. “The said retail rate discount will provide temporary economic relief to more than 2 million lifeline consumers and their family members at least for a month,” the ERC said in its ruling.
Meralco said: “We are one with the government in overcoming this crisis. We are keeping the lights on for our frontliners and affected Filipinos.” What was left unsaid were the challenges it has to hurdle. Increasing unemployment due to the pandemic has prevented many customers from paying their electricity bills. The payment delays and delinquency of utility bills by end-consumers (residential, commercial, and industrial) is beginning to have an adverse effect along the energy supply chain. Lawrence Fernandez, Meralco vice president for utility economics, said that while Meralco has given its customers installment options, the company itself was not granted a similar reprieve by its power suppliers. He said Meralco has started paying power generators in full since May to help ensure the suppliers can pay for their obligations and keep on producing the electricity that consumers need.
Meralco’s franchise areas include Metro Manila and nearby provinces, which account for about 50 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. A shortage of electricity in these areas can undermine the economy, which is already in recession. Thankfully, Meralco continues working with the energy sector to ensure that electric power remains uninterrupted in the time of the pandemic.