(The Philippine Star) | Updated September 11, 2017 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines
— Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi wants all power distributors to include
in electricity bills information on deposits and interest earned as part of the
agency’s thrust for transparency in the power sector.
The energy chief has
asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to require all distribution
utilities (DUs) and electric cooperatives (ECs) to inform their respective
customers of their deposits through power bills.
“As part of
transparency, part of making people informed of what they have and their rights
are, we have instructed ERC to require all DUs, ECs to put a line (in
electricity bills), how much is the deposit paid by the consumer,” Cusi said.
“Every month that you
get your bill, you should know that you have a deposit and how much interest
you have earned,” he added.
Currently, consumers
have no means to track how much their deposit with DUs and ECs have earned
since they became customers of a power distributor.
Moreover, customers do
not have proof or a copy of their interest-earning deposits should they decide
to refund from the power distributor’s service.
“Who has the burden of
proof that you have a deposit and the amount of deposit you are entitled to?
The burden of proof is with the consumer. You made your deposit and yet, when
you have to get your deposit, the burden of proof is yours,” Cusi said.
“So what we want to do
is there should be a line in electricity bills indicating the amount of deposit
that should be interest earning,” he said.
In a separate
interview, Visayan Electric Co. Inc. (VECO) president Jim Aboitiz said the directive
is not a big deal for power distributors, especially those owned by private
companies.
“It shouldn’t be a big
deal for a utility group to do. It’s nothing special (since) that information
already exists. I think it should only be harder for ECs to do because their
computer systems are outdated. The better ones will have an easy time, the
lousier ones will have a hard time. Like us, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco)
wouldn’t have a problem on that one,” he said.
While the details are
not readily available, the DUs could provide the information should the
customer ask about their deposits, said VECO chief operating officer Anton Mari
Perdices.
“(They can) ask for a
copy. DUs have those on record for sure,” he said.
Aboitiz also confirmed
that the deposits are interest earning, based on rules of the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas, but the interest is not substantial.
“So, all utilities, the
amount of security deposit they have, that they are holding on to date, will
not cover their one month’s revenue,” Aboitiz said, noting the deposit is
computed based on one month average bill.
There is also an ERC
ruling that states customers cannot refund that deposit “unless you have never
missed a payment on time for three years,” Aboitiz said.
“If you missed a
payment on time, the cycle starts again for that three years,” he said.
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