Two bills were filed in the Senate on Tuesday seeking to scrap system loss charges and the value-added tax (VAT) on consumers’ electricity bills, in what could turn President Marcos Jr.’s vision of lowering Filipinos’ monthly power costs into reality in the last two years of his administration.

Sens. JV Ejercito and Erwin Tulfo filed their respective twin bills a day after Marcos called on Congress in his penultimate SoNA to amend the 25-year-old Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) amid mounting complaints over bill shock attributed to pass-through charges.

Under Ejercito’s Senate Bill 2342, or the proposed “Consumer Protection Against System Losses Act,” distribution utilities and electric cooperatives would be prohibited from passing system losses on to consumers as a separate line item or charge on their electricity bills.

“Consumers should only pay for the electricity they actually use and the services they receive. If you didn’t use the electricity, you shouldn’t have to pay for it,” Ejercito said.

System loss refers to electricity lost during transmission and distribution as power travels from generation plants through high-voltage transmission and distribution lines to homes and businesses.

Currently, a portion of system loss that falls within the limits set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) may be passed on to consumers.

Senate Bill 2342 also seeks to require the ERC to amend its existing policies within 90 days of the law’s effectivity to remove system loss as a separate item on electricity bills.