by Charissa Luci July 31, 2016
Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo
Benitez has sought a transparent bidding process for power supply.
He filed House Bill No. 84 seeking
to mandate the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to conduct a transparent and
competitive selection process in power supply contracts between Distribution
Utilities (DUs) and generation companies.
He said there is a need to amend
Section 45(b) of Republic Act No. 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power
Industry Reform Act of 2001 or the EPIRA.
“Such amendment to EPIRA will
provide for a closer scrutiny of power contracts and will make DOE accountable
for questionable transactions between the distribution and generation sectors,”
Benitez said.
Section 45(b) of RA 9136 on Cross
Ownership, Market Power Abuse and Anti-Competitive Behavior provides that
“distribution utilities may enter into bilateral power supply contracts subject
to review by ERC.”
Benitez said since its enactment in
2001, EPIRA supposedly failed to promote “transparent and reasonable prices of
electricity in a regime of free and fair competition.”
“Unfortunately, fifteen years after
the approval of EPIRA, its intention of bringing down the rates through the
cultivation of market competition remains elusive. Electricity rates in
the Philippines are among the highest in the region,” he pointed out.
Citing the Trade Union Congress of
the Philippines (TUCP) report, he said 11 to 15 percent of Filipino
workers’ take home pay goes to the cost of electricity alone.
“While EPIRA included safeguards
against the monopolistic control of the local power industry by introducing the
Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and prohibited cross-ownership, some
private corporations have still found ways to circumvent the law through the
loopholes in the law,” Benitez laments.
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