Solar power firms seek stimulus plan

By Alena Mae S. Flores – June 04, 2020 at 07:50 pm
from manilastandard.net

The Philippine Solar and Storage Alliance appealed to lawmakers for a stimulus package that includes the greening and digitization of the energy infrastructure, such as a shift to smart meters to prevent a repeat of billing problems during the enhanced community quarantine period.

In a letter to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, PSSEA raised the problems of power customers arising from an old and antiquated metering system.

“The inefficiencies of our present meters, particularly in reading kwh consumption, in billing customers, and collecting payments are not where we want to be in the future,” PSSEA chair Tetchi Capellan said in a statement.

Consumers complained of high power rates after the distribution utilities were forced to resort to billing estimates during the ECQ.