Palace vows to protect public against unfair power-rate hike

By Nestor Corrales

Inquirer.net

5:44 pm Wednesday, December 4, 2013

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Wednesday said it is ready to protect public welfare if the power rate adjustment by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is found to be unjustified.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said that while power rates are market-driven, the Energy Regulatory Commission is in place to review the basis of a power rate adjustment if it is questioned.

“We have a process to address claims that power rate adjustments are arbitrary. We have the ERC as a regulatory body empowered to review the decisions of the market players),” Coloma said at a press briefing.

According to Coloma, there are safeguards in place to protect the consumer from price adjustments that may not be fair or in accordance with market forces.

While the government recognizes the power sector is market-driven, Coloma said President Benigno Aquino III still has the obligation to uphold the welfare of Filipino consumers.

He said the President is prioritizing in his decision-making the general welfare of the Filipino people.

He mentioned that power distribution utilities like Meralco automatically adjust their generation charge depending on the prices of the supply it gets from the market.

The latest power rate adjustment was due to the maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya power plant from Nov. 11 to Dec. 10, he said.

He said is it up to Congress to review and amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and the oil deregulation law, which some groups had blamed for high power rates in the country.

Earlier, Meralco assured customers that the increase would be temporary and that electricity charge will be back to a lower cost once the pipeline and maintenance of the Malampaya power plant is finished.

Meralco added the exact figures of the increase would be announced Monday when all necessary computations are done.  source