SEIPI seeks cap on electricity rates while Malampaya gas line undergoes maintenance

An electronics industry group on Tuesday called for a suspension of electricity rate adjustments that give utilities a way to recover fuel and power costs by passing these on to consumers, saying this would  help keep the cost of electricity from going higher while the Malampaya gas line, which supplies three  gas-fired power stations in Luzon, goes on maintenance shutdown. 

 

“We recommend that adjustment mechanisms such as the GRAM (generation rate adjustment mechanism) not be collected for this period and that the maintenance proceed as swiftly as possible and are completed before the prescribed 30-day period,” the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) said in a statement Tuesday.

 

The Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission should cap electricity rates during the Malampaya shutdown from Nov. 8 to Dec. 8, the group added. 

 

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla has warned that the month long shutdown could to fan prices as a result of a supply squeeze. 

 

SEIPI said its “non-contestable members” will be “severely affected by the Malampaya shutdown.

 

The group, which accounts for over 40 percent of of total Philippines exports and employes two million worker,  are made up of foreign and Filipino semiconductor and electronics manufacturing companies.

 

Earlier, Manila Electric Co. said consumers may see electricity rates spike by as much as P2 per kilowatt hour in December to January because of the shutdown, but that it is working with power companies to stem cost pressures. – SOA/VS, GMA News