Danessa
Rivera (The Philippine Star) - April 17, 2018 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines —
Consumer advocacy group Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) is pushing for transparency
in retail prices of petroleum products and the regular maintenance of power
plants as part of end-users’ right to information and to provide them access to
fair pricing of petroleum products and electricity.
In a letter to
Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi, the group stressed the
need to unbundle the retail prices of petroleum products so that consumers may
be provided the necessary information regarding fair pricing of petroleum
products.
It said oil companies
and the new players have practically uniform prices for diesel even as industry
players procure their products differently and engage in activities such as
refining, while the new players import finished products.
Even with Republic Act
8479 or the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998, LKI president Vic
Dimagiba said the DOE chief has the power to issue the circular mandating the
unbundling of retail prices of petroleum products.
He pointed out the DOE police powers under Sections 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18
and 19 of RA 8479. LKI believes that the unbundling will ensure transparent
pricing that will benefits the consumers.
“We believe that the
DOE secretary is authorized to issue the circular mandating the unbundling of
retail prices of petroleum products… Even under full deregulation, the DOE
secretary is authorized to ensure fair pricing of petroleum products for the
benefit and information of the consumers,” Dimagiba said.
Earlier, the DOE said
it would come out with a circular directing oil companies to unbundle their
prices and to explain their respective price adjustments.
On power rates, LKI
said the DOE “should publish the regular maintenance of the power plants and
energy suppliers over the next 12 months and inform the consumers of the
reasons for any unexpected shutdown, particularly during peak hours.”
Dimagiba said the Luzon
grid was placed on yellow alert, which pushed wholesale electricity spot market
(WESM) prices from P15 per kilowatt-hour (kwh) to P30 per kwh during the
trading period.
The consumer group also
said similar forced outages and shutdowns regularly occur during the hot season
and publishing an accurate and on-time detailed information on the reasons for
the shutdown can dispel perception of any form of collusion among power plants
and energy supplies resulting in spikes in the WESM prices and interim
bilateral purchase agreements.
Manila Electric Co.
(Meralco) – the country’s largest power distributor – announced.
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