Sen. Francis Tolentino —Photo from his office
MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Francis Tolentino raised serious concerns on Friday about the apparent inefficiency of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in managing power rate resets, noting how it handled the rate reset process for Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
Tolentino zeroed in on the ERC’s lack of action on Meralco’s case for nearly 10 years, having granted Meralco’s request to withdraw its rate reset application last Oct. 30 when the company’s last rate reset lapsed in 2015.
“It’s troubling that the ERC, under both past and present leaderships, has failed to tackle this issue. Why has it taken so long for them to act on the long overdue rate reset process? It should have taken action before July 2022, but it allowed the issue to drag on. In short, they were caught napping),” Tolentino said in a mix of English and Filipino.
READ: Average hike of P21 seen in Meralco December bill
He stressed that the ERC failed to provide a proper and timely rate review due to the lack of rules for setting the distribution wheeling rates.
“As a government agency, the ERC must be vigilant and proactive in safeguarding public interests. They cannot afford to be complacent while consumers are exposed to its inefficiencies and exploitation from the power sector,” he said.
Because of this, Tolentino called for immediate action from the ERC to ensure accountability and transparency in its operations.
Filipinos deserve a regulatory body that acts swiftly and effectively to protect their rights and interests, he stressed
“Our fellow Filipinos worked hard to earn each peso to make ends meet. The least the ERC can do is to do its job,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tolentino urged the ERC to ensure the processes for refunding Meralco customers would be timely and transparent. ERC recently ordered Meralco to refund some P987.16 million to its customers for improperly charged fees related to regulatory rate resets.
READ: ‘No definite computation’ on Meralco consumer refund – ERC
Some 16 other distribution utilities are expected to return P189.98 million, bringing the total refund amount to around P1.1777 billion. These fees were collected despite no actual regulatory reset taking place, with costs instead covered by the government’s budget.
“ERC must take proactive measures to prevent such issues from recurring and to uphold its responsibility to protect the consumers’ welfare,” he said.