Second petition against power rate hike filed

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MANILA, Philippines—A second petition has been filed with the Supreme Court to stop the P4.15 per kilowatt hour power rate increase which will be implemented in three instalments, the first of which will be implemented this month.

In a 39-page class suit, petitioners National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms (Nasecore), Federation of Village Associations (Fova), and Federation of Las Piñas Homeowners Association (Folpha) urged the high court to nullify all resolutions and issuances of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) allowing the automatic power rate adjustments imposed by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).

While the petition is pending, the groups urged the high court to issue a temporary restraining order or a status quo ante order (SQAO) to prevent Meralco from charging consumers with the new rate adjustment.

Meralco submitted the rate hike proposal on Dec. 5 due to the simultaneous shutdown of power plants including Malampaya. ERC approved the proposal on Dec. 9, or four days later.

The P4.15 rate hike will be implemented in three tranches–P2 raise this month, P1 in February and P0.44 in March along with taxes and service charges.

The petitioners said their right to due process was violated because there was no due notice and hearing on Meralco’s rate hike proposal, and no publication of it or public advisory via major publications.

They claimed that this violation of due process was also committed “when automatic rate adjustments or increases borne out by [Meralco’s] alleged generation costs were allowed and subsequently collected against the electricity-consuming public.”

“Automatic electricity rate adjustments or increases of Meralco are not only violative of due process but also amount to a regulatory failure on the part of the ERC, an abject surrender of its regulatory functions, in violation of Section 25 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA),” the petitioners said.

The petitioners said there should have been a publication of the proposed rate hike to inform the public.

“Publication is an effective tool in preventing the public from second-guessing the substance and merits of a particular rate adjustment or increase,” they said.

They also urged the high court to order the creation of a committee to be headed by the  Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct an automatic audit on electricity rate adjustments imposed by Meralco from 2004.

“This committee should determine the amount of refund Meralco should pay consumers for these illegally imposed and collected rate increases,” the group claimed.