ERC blamed for late review of power firm’s rates
CAGAYAN de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez has faulted the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the confusion and misinformation on rate setting process of Meralco and other power distributors in the country.
“We found the root cause of the high rate issues hounding Meralco, and it is indeed regulatory inaction which already caused so much unnecessary noise, precisely because of the highly technical nature and of electricity rates,” Rodriguez said.
“As the regulator, it ultimately has the huge responsibility to ensure timely implementation of rate review and approval as this assures customers that the rates they are paying are fair and reasonable,” he added.
The ERC recently ruled with finality on the rate application of Meralco for the Lapsed Period — or from 2015 to 2022 — when there was no completed rate reset not just for Meralco but also for other distributors.
Customers of Meralco already benefited in terms of the close to P50 billion refund, which was triggered by Meralco’s initiative to have its rates reviewed despite the absence of rules and rate reset for about seven years.
“The recent ruling of the majority of the ERC commissioners is a win for consumers as this paves the way for the regulatory body on other rate applications by other distribution utilities pending before them that will likely result in refunds to consumers, and similarly allow ERC to proceed with the rate reset process,” Rep. Rodriguez said.
He added that the ERC exercised its quasi-judicial rate-setting power to fix the problem with the absence of Meralco’s rate review.
