Published
By Ben Rosario
A senior administration congressman has enjoined the Energy Regulatory
Commission (ERC) to closely monitor the billing collection of power
distributors to prevent over-recovery.
In a recent virtual
meeting of the House committee on good government, 1PACMAN Partylist Rep. Eric
Pineda noted that there have been numerous complaints against the spike in
electricity bills especially in Meralco-serviced areas.
Pineda, chairman of the
House committee on labor and employment, said Meralco has claimed that one
reason for this is the increase in the power consumption of many households due
to the mandatory quarantine protocol under the COVID-19 situation,
He noted that as consumption increases, so does the profit of Meralco and other
distribution utilities (DUs).
In the same hearing,
Pineda also said Meralco and other DU’s were expected to peg their services at
a lower price during the quarantine period, pointing out that it is during this
time that fuel prices went down.
Lawyer William
Pamintuan, Meralco senior vice president and head of legal and corporate
governance, said that profits have actually plunged because of the decline in
demand while its service areas were under quarantine.
“In totality, our
revenues actually went down,” he said, assuring Pineda that over-recovery was
not possible.
Pamintuan also said the downward trend of fuel cost had already resulted in a
lower cost of electricity.
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