Bayan says looming power rate hike unjust, anti-consumer

By Dennis Carcamo (philstar.com) | Updated December 9, 2013 - 9:34am

MANILA, Philippines - Militant group Bayan said on Monday that the public should oppose the impending power rate increase even if it is implemented on a staggered basis.

"The supposed P3.44 per kilowatt hour increase in generation charges will be collected via two tranches allegedly because of the power distributor is sensitive to the plight of the people," Bayan said.

Electric distributor Meralco and the Energy Regulator Commission will be meeting today on the final details of the implementation of the jacked-up generation rates that will be passed on to the people, Bayan added.

The group noted that any power rate hike now is "unjust," and "anti-consurmer."

"We maintain that the latest price hike, whether collected in full or on a staggered basis, is patently unjust. The entire scheme of a deregulated power sector, where automatic adjustments are the norm, is anti-consumer. Added costs are passed on to end-users without any government or public scrutiny," Bayan said.

"The idea of automatic recovery gives distributors the wide latitude to contract power at onerous rates, and to pass on added costs without regard for the consumers' welfare. Automatic recovery has become a disincentive for seeking lower-priced power supply.

"The ERC practice of reviewing the pass on charges after these have been implemented, supposedly to determine over and under recoveries, is an afterthought that does not protect consumers who have already paid the higher monthly rates," Bayan added.

Bayan also pointed out that since Congress passed the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA), the promise of lower power rates has yet to materialize.

"The so-called Wholesale Electricity Spot Market which supposedly would encourage competition and lower rates has also proved to be a failure and in fact it has become one of the factors why power rates have gone up.

"The rate hike is made even more burdensome with the inclusion of the VAT (value added tax) on power which taxes all items on the electric bill, including systems losses," Bayan said.

Bayan also said that the probe of the House of Representatives on the power rate hike must determine whether automatic recoveries under the EPIRA and the passing on of charges related to maintenance work on power plants is just.

Aside from Bayan, members of the women's group Gabriela are set to picket outside the ERC building in Pasig City where a hearing on the power rate hike will be conducted this morning.   source