MAP: Consumers should not shoulder system losses

MANILA, Philippines — One of the country’s most influential business groups has called on the government to take a tougher stance against power utilities and electric cooperatives that consistently post high system losses, saying that consumers should not bear the cost of these inefficiencies.

In a statement on Friday expressing support for President Marcos’ call to bring down electricity costs, the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) said distribution utilities (DUs) and electric cooperatives (ECs) must be compelled to invest more in network efficiency to reduce these additional costs.

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“The MAP supports stronger enforcement against electricity pilferage and other illegal activities that unfairly shift costs to law-abiding consumers,” the group said. “At the same time, DUs and ECs should strengthen internal controls, improve meter accuracy, reduce administrative losses, and adopt technologies that improve network visibility and loss detection.”

The Energy Regulatory Commission sets a cap of 6.5 percent of illegal or stolen electricity that power utilities can pass on to consumers.

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MAP said “Consumers should not shoulder [these] costs arising from operational inefficiencies, weak governance or preventable nontechnical losses.”

But some electric cooperatives in the provinces post system losses as high as 16 percent.

“Utilities with persistently high losses should be subject to enhanced regulatory oversight and appropriate governance or operational reforms to protect consumers and improve service performance,” MAP said. /cb