Palace vows to address concerns on high power rates

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang will work closely with the Department of Energy (DOE) to look into the concerns of groups who complained about high power rates in the country.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, however, noted that the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), an independent body, decides on power rates.

“(The concerns on) power rates are addressed to the ERC. It is the ERC that sets power rates. We will coordinate with the DOE for our position on the matter,” Valte said.

The ERC is an independent quasi-judicial body that regulates power rates. It hears petitions for rate adjustments of power firms, state-owned firms like National Power Corp. and consumer groups.

Mario Marasigan, director of the DOE Renewable Energy Management Bureau, said they are continuously encouraging investments to promote competition and reduce power costs.

“We are looking for the development of our resources to address costs and to make them competitive,” Marasigan told The STAR.

He said investments in renewable energy could benefit consumers since these are much cheaper.

“We are looking at all possibilities to contribute to our power generation and supply,” he said, adding that about 34 percent of the country’s energy mix was contributed by renewable sources like hydro, geothermal and biomass.

On Friday, labor, academe and business groups asked President Aquino to address the issue of power rate hikes.

In a joint statement, the groups led by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged the government to create a road map that would ensure power rate competitiveness.

“There appears to be no specific and strong action program or roadmap coming from the executive department and made known and shared with the private sector,” the joint statement read.

Other groups who signed the statement are the Philippine Exporters Confederation, the Philippine Steelmakers Association, Foundation for Economic Freedom, and the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP).

The groups said the internal weakness of the system and the lobbying of various groups resulted in the failure of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to lower power costs.

Citing data from the International Energy Council, the groups said the Philippines’ industrial electricity rate of $13.20 was highest not only in the region but also higher than the Netherlands, the US, Australia, France and Sweden.

They warned that failure to act on expensive power costs would lead to “energy poverty” and could prod labor groups to demand a wage increase.

 “If these issues are not acted upon soon, workers will be forced to demand for higher wages or demand answers in the streets. This is a very serious issue for workers that must be responded to amid these very difficult times,” said ALU-TUCP national vice president Gerard Seno.

The groups urged the executive to ask the ERC to stop or defer hearing any petition for a rate hike. They also asked the government to scrap the cost burdens that make power expensive.