By
Butch Fernandez- December 4, 2016
THE Senate Committee on
Energy is bearing down on Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and other power
distributors to further reduce multibillion pesos in “systems loss” blamed on
pilferage and technical causes, the cost of which is being passed on to
consumers.
Sen. Sherwin T.
Gatchalian, committee chairman, estimated this could run up to P3 billion in
Meralco’s franchise area, suggesting a possible refund mechanism.
Gatchalian confirmed
over the weekend the panel had already asked the officers of power firms in a
recent public hearing to further cut down systems loss to 5 percent, from 6.5
percent in 2015.
“In the span of 30
years they managed to reduce systems loss. They started with 21 percent, now
6.4 percent, but in other advance countries, like Korea and Thailand, 6
percent,” he says, adding “Singapore is close to 0, but if we look at the same
geographical and customer profile, I think Thailand can be a comparative
country, because they are hovering at 6 percent.”
The senator is
convinced the power companies can actually still reduce it further, citing
reports that in some of the electric cooperatives in other jurisdictions in the
country, “their systems loss hover at 4 percent or 3 percent so it’s possible.”
“Our proposal is 5
percent, which can translate to savings of P3 billion just in the Meralco
franchise area alone and that P3 billion will benefit their customers,” the
senator added.
He said the committee
is also open to the idea of allowing foreign-owned firms to invest in the power
industry. “Actually, with generation companies, foreign companies can now own
100 percent, except renewable energy.”
The senator said if
power firms succeed in reducing their systems losses from 6.5 percent to 5
percent, the consumers will save about P3 billion a year.
But to further reduce
Meralco’s systems loss being passed on to its customers, Gatchalian was told
that it would have to “invest around P2 billion worth” to improve their system.
He reported that a
Meralco official clarified they still need to verify the initial estimate and
will “do some more pencil pushing” and submit whatever findings they have to
the committee.
“We want to see
Meralco’s proposal on their new investment…their internal cost benefit
analysis, investment versus how much systems loss that we can reduce and the
impact to the consumers,” Gatchalian said.
As for the distribution
utilities and electric cooperatives, Gatchalian said the Energy Committee is
also keen to get their perspective on “how much they will spend for capital
expenditures and its impact to their customers.”
“That is what we want
to understand. How do they plan to further reduce systems loss? What’s
the impact on the consumers if they invest?” Gatchalian asked, adding that he
expects to get further clarifications from the power firms at the next committee
hearing.
No comments:
Post a Comment