Meralco to study proposed extension of installment payment scheme, says exec

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Tuesday said it would study the suggestion to extend the installment payment scheme for its consumers as the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

During a Senate hearing of the committee on energy, Senator Risa Hontiveros asked if the company would be willing to implement such to prevent the disconnection of consumers who can't afford to pay their bills yet.

"Currently, we are guided by the ERC's (Energy Regulatory Commission) October 2020 advisory but even beyond that we already extended the disconnection moratorium for consumers using 200 kwh or less," Meralco Vice President for Utility Economics Lawrence Fernandez said.

"We can consider, we will study the suggestion to extend payment terms for our customers. We just have to note that out of the total bill, [the] actual distribution portion is a portion that accrues to Meralco and the rest are passed through charges which we have to settle in full and on time," he added.

For the past 10 months, Meralco has been paying for the generation, transmission, and other costs despite not being able to collect from many of its customers, Fernandez underscored.

Energy Regulatory Commission Director Sharon Montañer confirmed that the uniform no disconnection policy was covered by the ERC advisory dated October 29, 2020.

"This is a minimum naman po. The distribution utilities can go beyond it if they so wish. So, that's no disconnection until the end of December [2020] for those with consumption equal to double the lifeline threshold  and for Meralco that's 200 kwh," she said.

Meralco has previously extended its no disconnection policy for customers with consumption of 200 kilowatt per hour and below until January 31, 2021.

Hontiveros raised the possibility of having an alternative payment scheme as she pointed out that Meralco already announced that it has begun sending out disconnection notices to consumers using 201 kwh and above.

In response to the senator's suggestion, the ERC said it will continue to evaluate the situation on the ground and issue the necessary intervention as needed. -MDM, GMA News