Creation of task force on power cost urged

MANILA, Philippines - Various consumer groups and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) are asking President  Aquino  to create a task force to help bring down the cost of electricity in the country.

Alan Tanjusay, TUCP advocacy officer said that by creating a task force on power, President Aquino can make the Philippines more attractive to investors.

“This would send a signal to potential investors to come in and invest here,” he said.

Last Friday, the TUCP and other consumer groups in Luzon,Visayas and Mindanao launch a movement called Pipol’s Power, aimed at bringing the cost of electricity in the country. 

This came after Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced that its customers would experience an increase in their power bills for the month of January, as a result of price adjustments in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the country’s trading floor for electricity.

With the increase, Meralco’s 200-kilowatt hour (kWh) households will see a 36-centavo per kWh increase in electricity rates this January 2013.

On the other hand, Meralco said that a household using 200 kWh would experience a slight 1.41-centavo per kWh transmission charge reduction and a 3.30-centavo per kWh increase in the system loss charge. 

The Pipol’s Power expressed fear that on top of this, the impending 39 centavo universal charge petitioned by the PSALM will be granted by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) any time this week.

Tanjusay said the group includes the largest labor coalition NAGKAISA, Mindanao Business Council, Mindanao Commission on Women and All Pinoy Volunteers.

“The President must do something about the cost of electricity as soon as possible to retain and attract more companies, thereby retaining jobs and creating more jobs,” he said.

In a separate statement, the Pipol’s Power group said that the 39-centavo rate increase will further widen inequalities in the country as electricity becomes more unaffordable, and value of wages will erode.

Currently, average households are already spending about 30 percent of their income and about 26 percent of production costs in industries or factories are spent for electricity, the group said.

“If PSALM’s petition will be approved, residential consumers with monthly consumption between 110 kwh/month to 350 kwh/month will pay between an additional amount of P40/month to P130/month,” it also said.

However, the government is asking the ERC to approve PSALM’s universal charge petition to enable PSALM -- the agency set up to manage the assets and liabilities of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) to pay off some of its debts.