CdO lawmaker blames ERC for delayed power rate reduction

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez blames the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the delayed review of power rates by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), which have now significantly decreased after months of reaching unreasonable levels.

“We found the root cause of the high rate issues hounding Meralco, and it is indeed regulatory inaction which already caused so much unnecessary noise, precisely because of the highly technical nature and of electricity rates,” Rodriguez said in a message to reporters on Saturday.

Rodriguez lamented that the ERC, being a power regulator, has the ultimate responsibility "to ensure timely implementation of rate review and approval as this assures customers that the rates they are paying are fair and reasonable."

"The ERC should always keep in mind that its mandate to deliver timely and value-driven public service by ensuring a working and stable regulatory environment,” the veteran lawmaker pointed out.

Recently, Meralco announced a P1.9623 per kWh decrease in the electricity rate this June, a turnaround from the P0.6436 per kWh increase earlier announced.

The overall power rate now stands at P9.4516 per kWh, down from May’s P11.4139 per kWh. 

The drop in the power rates was due to ERC's order to all distribution utilities and electric cooperatives to stagger the collection of charges covering Wholesale Electricity Spot Market purchases in May to four equal monthly installments starting this June until September.

Recently, the ERC denied the motions filed by various parties seeking to reconsider Meralco’s approved actual weighted average tariff (AWAT), which resulted in a P21.7-billion refund to consumers.

While Rodriguez said the ruling is a win for consumers, he claimed that the ERC exercised its quasi-judicial rate-setting power to fix the problem with the absence of Meralco’s rate review.

In addition, he hit the dissenting opinion on the decision and contended that there is a need for all ERC commissioners to consider the impact of their delayed actions not just on distribution utilities, like Meralco, but most importantly to the paying consumers.

ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta, however, assured that the dissent is looking out for the interests of all stakeholders to ensure that the commission does its job.

"That is, to conduct a proper review of the investments, performance, costs, and earnings of regulated entities in setting a fair and reasonable tariff," Dimalanta told DAILY TRIBUNE.

"This is to protect not just the interest of Meralco consumers but the interests as well of consumers served by private distribution utilities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao who were not given the opportunity to participate in the case filed by Meralco, but who are now bound by such decision of the commission," she added.

Nevertheless, Dimalanta acknowledged Rodriguez’s effort in raising the root cause, which she said key mandate of the ERC.

“The detailed chronology of which, as provided in the dissenting opinion of Commissioner Maceda, truly makes for a curious case of the dynamics between the regulator and the regulated entities in the power sector in the past,” she concluded.