Higher power rates in December based on ERC's order for a staggered collection

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said on Sunday that the higher electricity bills in December is based on its order for Meralco to implement a staggered basis of collection of portions of their suppliers’ generation costs.

In a SuperRadyo dzBB interview, ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Agnes Devanadera said that several factors have contributed to this upward adjustment of power rates such as the soaring fuel prices worldwide and the shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas facility.

“Nagkaroon tayo ng problema kasi worldwide, sa buong mundo, nagtaasan ang presyo. So tayo, naapektuhan din. Ang ginawa ng ERC, chinop-chop ‘yung increase,” she said.

(We had a problem when we got affected by the increased fuel prices all over the world. What the ERC did was to chop the increase in bits.)

“Siyempre, naapektuhan pa tayo nitong sa Malampaya. Bumababa na ‘yung supply do’n so kumukuha tayo ng tinatawag na alternative fuel na mas mataas. So, ito ‘yung nag-abot-abot,” she added.

(We were also affected by Malampaya. The supply there was decreasing, so we’re getting alternative fuel which is more expensive. All of these accumulated, thus the increase in power rates.)

Devanadera said that power distribution utilities were supposed to increase the power rates in the previous months but were just deferred by the ERC to a later date to cushion the impact of the Malampaya facility maintenance shutdown.

In an advisory on Friday, Meralco said it hiked the overall rate for a typical household by P0.3143 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), bringing the overall rate to P9.7773 per kWh this month from P9.4630 per kWh in November “on the back of higher generation charges.”

The increment is equivalent to an increase of around P62.86 in the total bill of a residential customer consuming 200 kWh, P94.26 for customers consuming 300 kWh, and P157.15 for those consuming 500 kWh of electricity.

According to the power distributor, this month’s increased charges already includes the first of the four monthly installments covering the deferred costs from the November bill.

This staggered collection begins in December 2021 and will end in March 2022.

Devanadera however noted that power distribution companies such as Meralco thought of ways to lessen the impact of the above mentioned issues, but the zero rate increase was really not attainable.

She added that the ERC is continuously monitoring the electricity rates per month and they are seeking to lower the rates, if possible, based on a scientific computation.

“Ang aking assurance, ang ERC ay tuloy-tuloy ang pagko-compute. Talagang may computation kaming ginagawa. Kami rin ay tuloy-tuloy ang pag-uutos na pababain based on a computation,” she said.

(My assurance is that the ERC is continuously computing. We are also continuously ordering to decrease the power rate based on a computation.)

Devanadera said that should there be a refund, it would be applied against the current bill. —KG, GMA News