Meralco urged to report collection before SC stopped hike

MANILA, Philippines - Power distributor Manila Electric Company should account for all the collections it made before the temporary restraining order imposed by the Supreme Court on the power rate adjustment, militant group Bayan said on Tuesday.

Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr.said Meralco must report before the High Court on how much the power firm has collected when it started imposing the staggered rate hike December last year.

He said that many Meralco customers had already paid their electric bills with a P2 per kilowatt hour increase before the SC issued its Dec.23 60-day TRO.

“We want to know the status of the collections. Where is the money? Is it earing interest? Shouldn't there be a refund?” Reyes said.

Meanwhile, Bayan and other people's groups are expected to picket outside the SC building in Manila where  Meralco and other players in power industry, the government and its regulators and the oppositors to the power rate hike face off. 

Groups are expected to gather along Padre Faura today and then hold community blackouts tonight. 

Opponents of the rate hike from the Makabayan bloc in Congress are seeking a permanent stop to the increase.

“January 21 is our day of protest against Meralco's abuses and the Aquino government's inaction. It's the day we say enough of abuses, enough of unbridled profits. We call on the people to gather in front of the Supreme Court to protest the power mafia and their number one protector in Malacanang.

"The entire privatized and deregulated power industry is being questioned here, along with the inaction of the Aquino government,” Reyes said.

He said that the High Court must resolve the issue of automatic pass-through and deregulation of the generation sector.

“Right now there is no cap on the automatic pass-on of generation companies. We have reached a point where a small number of generators can dictate the prices of electricity. Around 70 percent of the planned P3.44/kWh increae was due to the actions of a few generating plants in the spot market that supplied only 11.5 percent of Meralco's power requirements. It is mind-boggling that 11.5 percent of the supply can make power rates shoot up through the roof,” Reyes said.

The group said that the automatic pass-on policy has allowed distributors to get the most expensive power, simply because the cost will eventually be passed on to consumers.

“This is the problem with a deregulated and privatized power industry. Everything is driven by profits. Power firms are given so much leeway to recover their cost. They can bid P62/kWh in the spot market but everyone knows that is not the actual or real cost of the electricity they produce. Yet they do it just the same since consumers will be the ones paying for the high cost,” Reyes added.

“The automatic pass-on policy should be scrapped. Power generators and distributors should not be allowed to get away with market abuse and profiteering. The Electric Power Industry Reform Act should also be junked,” he added.