Isabela, Kalinga consumers complain of soaring power bills

CITY OF ILAGAN, Isabela, Philippines — The Isabela II Electric Cooperative (Iselco II) has been flooded with complaints from its consumers over high power bills covering the period of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

The power utility charged families using the average of their previous electricity consumption, as meter readers and collectors were not allowed to visit households in March as a safety precaution against the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Tripled

“The average consumption charge, which they (Iselco) applied, has been unfavorable to us. My bill tripled from P848 to P2,880,” said Gloriza Carbajosa-Preza, a Gamu town resident.

But power bills were “naturally high” during the ECQ because household members were locked indoors and had been consuming electricity, said David Solomon Siquian, manager of Iselco II that serves three districts of the province.

Siquian said the utility applied “averaging” but did not “double” or “triple” charges for March and April. “The power that was consumed in December last year and in January and February this year was added together and then divided into three and multiplied by the present rate, which was the basis for the March billing,” added Liborio Medrano, manager of Iselco II financial services department.

Medrano said this billing method followed the rules of the Energy Regulatory Commission, the National Electrification Administration and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

Unusually high

In Kalinga province, electricity consumers were also surprised to receive “unusually high” electricity bill for April.

Most complaints were posted on social media, with some saying they were charged as much as 1,300 percent higher than their previous monthly electricity consumption.

Nathaniel Taguiam said his billing for March was only P200 but was charged P2,600 for April, despite having only a television and an electric fan at home. He said his in-laws’ electricity bill also jumped from P1,300 in March to P4,400 in April.

The Kalinga Electric Cooperative, the province’s main power distributor, said the charges for April were based on actual meter reading while those for March were based on estimated average, except in some remote villages where there were deputized meter readers.

Most consumers increased energy consumption due to the ECQ “that forced people to stay at home,” Kaelco said.

But many residents and businessmen claimed they still incurred charges despite being away from their billing address or having closed operations since the lockdown began on March 16.

Clarisse Ao-wat said she had been out of her boarding house in Tabuk City for over a month due to the ECQ but was charged P702, her average regular monthly consumption.

—VILLAMOR VISAYA JR. AND KARLSTON LAPNITEN