Meralco: Subsidies ordered collected from consumers

Senior-citizen and lifeline rate subsidies are mandated by the government to be collected from consumers of electricity, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said on Monday.

Meralco senior vice president Jose Ronald Valles thus said, after some lawmakers indicated that non-beneficiary customers should not pay for these legally-mandated discounts.

"Well, these are mga subsidies. Historically, ang mga mandated subsidies, ibig sabihin ng mandated, inuutos ng gobyerno para ikarga ng distribution utilities. Ang purpose niyan ay para kolektahin sa mga ibang customers. Kasi inuutos sa amin 'yun," Valles said.

"Ang discount kasi that Meralco can give is dapat for distribution utilities to provide is dapat voluntary. Otherwise, it sets a bad precedent na lahat na lang ng pwede maisip na mga charges na dapat i-discount ay ipapasa sa DUs, then that will be a very inefficient way of regulating the utilities," he added.

(Well, these are mga subsidies. Historically, these are mandated subsidies. Mandated means that distribution utilities are instructed to charge these. The purpose is to collect from the other consumers. We have been so instructed. The discount that Meralco and other distribution utilities should be voluntary. Otherwise, it sets a bad precedent that every discount conceived would be charged to the DUs. That will be a very inefficient way of regulating the utilities.)

Valles said Meralco implements other programs to help bring down the price of electricity to those in need, "But not in the form of subsidies just like any other utility."

This comes as several lawmakers have sought the reevaluation of existing policies on electricity subsidies, following complaints from consumers about higher electricity bills.

Akbayan Partylist representative Chel Diokno earlier raised concerns over the “pass-through” charges collected from consumers, as he said the government should review and reconsider its implementation.

For Senator Bam Aquino, electricity subsidies and other mandated discounts should be funded through the national budget and not by non-beneficiary consumers, particularly low- and middle-income households.

Aquino thus filed proposed Senate Resolution No. 375, urging the Senate Committee on Energy to look into the design, targeting, and financing of the lifeline rate subsidy and other mandated electricity discounts.

Meralco, for its part, has already clarified that itemized charges reflected in the monthly electricity bills of customers are all approved by regulators before implementation.

In the same briefing, Meralco chief operating officer Ronnie Aperocho reiterated that the higher electricity bill recorded in April was due to the higher generation charge, which increased by 52 centavos, and the higher temperature for the month at 37 degrees Celsius from 34 degrees in March.

“‘Yun ‘yung nakikita namin, ‘yung twin effect of the increase in generation charge, 52 cents, at ‘yung talagang increase in temperature, 3 degrees Celsius (That is what we are seeing, the twin effect of the increase in generation charge, 52 cents, and the increase in temperature, 3 degrees Celsius)” he said.

Meralco on Monday reported a 2% growth in its first-quarter net income to P11.165 billion from P10.947 billion a year ago. Revenues grew 6% to P118.097 billion, while costs and expenses climbed 7% to P110.496 billion.

“We stand ready to work with the government in strengthening the country’s resilience against global volatility. We will support the development of indigenous energy sources and the large-scale build-out of renewable energy projects, which will bring in much-needed capacity and help reduce our exposure to global price movements. We will look into e-vehicle adoption and rooftop solar,” Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said in a statement.

“Looking forward, Meralco will continue to actively explore emerging technologies such as nuclear and expanding distributed energy resources,” he added. –NB, GMA News