House panel to hold inquiry into sudden spike of Meralco bills for May —solon

The House Committee on Energy is set to hold an inquiry into the sudden spike of the electric bill of customers of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) for the month of May, its member, the panel's vice chair, Quezon City Representative Bong Suntay, said Sunday.

In a Dobol B sa News TV interview, Suntay said the committee will be inviting representatives from Meralco as well as from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to clear things up regarding the May electric bills.

"Napag-usapan namin ito sa Committee on Energy pero dahil it was taken up under other matters, mapapag-usapan namin ulit ito para maisulong na at ma-schedule 'yung hearing sa Committee on Energy," he said.

"Napagkasunduan namin na mas maganda ipatawag natin ulit 'yung mga kawani ng Meralco para magpaliwanag sila. 'Yung mga kasamahan natin sa ERC na nag-authorize sa kanila, nagbigay ng formula kung paano ang billing," he added.

Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga earlier explained that the latest bills reflect the full impact of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), while the previous months were based on average consumption.

"The March and April bills were based on the previous 3 months consumption per the ERC advisory, before ECQ where consumption was much lower," he said in a mobile message.

Meralco suspended meter reading activities when the ECQ took effect, but a skeleton force resumed such operations on April 18 for corporate and BIZ customers, and May 6 for residential customers.

Thus, the billing was only estimated based on the average of three months' consumption. The March bill, for example, was based on the consumption in December, January, and February.

The bills for March and April were then reflected in the May statement, but Meralco has since clarified that this may be paid on an installment basis.

Suntay said he received many complaints from customers regarding the sudden increase in their electric bill.

"Kung noong panahon ng December, January, February billing, dapat mababa 'yan kasi tag-lamig noon e. Hindi ka masyadong gumagamit ng air conditioner or electric fan," he said.

"Pero 'yun nga, meron pa ring nagrereklamo na mataas ang billing lalo na nu'ng dumating ang most recent na electric bill," he added.

Suntay, however, pointed out that Meralco should also be given the benefit of the doubt in coming up with the amounts in the electric bills, as they may have only committed a mistake.

Nevertheless, all these issues will be tackled during the committee hearing, he added. —Erwin Colcol/KG, GMA News