ACTING on the initiative of Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto, the Senate’s Committee on Energy is now “studying the possibility” of tapping the P204-billion Malampaya Fund to reduce the universal charge (UC) paid by end-consumers on their monthly electricity bills.
Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Energy Committee chairman, estimates that Recto’s recommendation, if adopted, “could result in household savings as high as P2,033.76 annually” from lower electric bills.
The Committee tackled on Tuesday Recto’s Senate Bill 924 which, once enacted into law, will allocate the net national government share from the Malampaya Natural Gas Project for the payment of the stranded contract costs and stranded debts of the National Power Corp. SCC and SD are components used to compute the UC imposed on consumers under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira law) embodied in Republic Act 9136.
In a statement, Gatchalian noted that data presented by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), applying the remaining P204 billion of the Malampaya Fund, would avert an impending increase of P0.8474 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in retail power rates. He added this would result in annual savings of P2,033.76 for an average household consuming 200 kWh per month. Gatchalian on Monday committed to support the measure “subject to further study on precisely how much of the remaining Malampaya funds should be applied for the purpose.”
ERC castigated
At the same time, the senator castigated Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) officials, voicing disappointment over “several delays in the approval of SCC and SD rate applications.”
Citing PSALM data submitted to his committee, Gatchalian lamented that various delays have resulted in an “additional P34.78 billion of costs to be shouldered by consumers,” equivalent to a power-rate increase of P0.1973 per kWh.
“After all of your controversies, you will pass on the P34 billion as additional burden of Juan de la Cruz due to these delays,” the senator confronted ERC officials at the hearing. “This is absolutely unacceptable. What is your solution?”
In response, ERC lawyer Krisha Buela replied that the regulatory body was reviewing its procedures and process flows to improve their work. Gatchalian, however, remained skeptical. “I’m telling you that there’s a problem in your procedures. It’s a P34-billion problem to be shouldered by the Filipino people.”
He indicated his readiness to push passage of the ERC Governance Act embodied in Senate Bill No. 1490, which will clearly mandate “transparency and accountability in [ERC’s] deliberations and decisions.”
Image credits: shell.com