ERC lax on testing power distributors' meters for accuracy – COA

A majority of distribution utilities — 125 out of 139 — have failed to comply with government-required meter calibration and accuracy testing, which means power consumers across the country may have been getting inaccurate electricity bills, the Commission on Audit said.

According to the COA, the Energy Regulatory Commission has failed to conduct periodic meter testing to check accuracy despite its “Rules and Procedures for the Test and Maintenance of Electric Meters of Distribution Utilities” based on ERC Resolution No. 12 (2009) and amended by Resolution No.  21 (2013).

Under those guidelines, “all electric meters …should have been tested and sealed by the ERC” before installation and each one should be re-tested at least once every two years.

Pre-existing meters should have undergone in-service testing since July 2012, but this has not been done.
 
The Aug. 29 audit report did not name the electric cooperatives and distributors, but said ERC failed to uphold its mandate.
 
“The low compliance by the DUs puts the consumers at a disadvantage as they are not assured if their meter readings are accurate,” it said.

The commission said the ERC should enforce regulations immediately and impose sanctions on distributors that do not comply.
 
An Apr. 15 status report from the ERC Meter Division said only five distributors were certified to fully-complaint. Nine other distributors just replaced old meters with pre-tested ones instead of conducting tests, COA said.

Meanwhile, 97 distrbutors and electric cooperatives asked the ERC for more time to conduct the tests and 28 submitted incomplete testing plans that are still subject to revisions. — JDS, GMA News