Meralco refund controversy lingers
By Ray S. Eñano – December 6, 2023, 8:35 pm
from manilastandard.net
“Meralco’s erroneous billing should not have happened in the the first place, given the supposed strict regulatory environment that protects consumers from abuses.”
Electricity rates in the Philippines remain a touchy subject because monthly bills make a dent on the household budget. The burden of of consumers does not get lighter if they realize that the Philippines has one of the higher electricity rates in Asia, along with those of Singapore.
Prohibitive power costs are blamed for the low level of foreign investments in the Philippines and the laggard growth of the manufacturing sector. A paper prepared by Associate Professor Majah-Leah V. Ravago of Ateneo de Manila University noted that electricity prices in the Philippines were high by regional standards.
Ms. Ravago’s paper, commissioned by the World Bank, stressed there is room for cost reduction from the various segments of the power supply chain in the Philippines, starting with the use “of an optimal mix of fuel sources based on the least-cost rule, where cost takes into account the environmental and health costs.”
The paper further observed that transmission and distribution losses in the Philippines were also high by regional standards. “Consumers in the Philippines are also taxed for systems losses and subsidies. A reevaluation of the tax base is also needed,” the paper recommended.
The complicated billing statement issued by utilities, including Manila Electric Co., does not help in easing the plight of inflation-weary Filipino consumers. More often than not, they merely glance at their Meralco bills electric bills without examining the details.
Consumers would just look at a set of numbers on their electric bills and part away with the chunk of their hard-earned pay to avoid losing power connection. Sad to say, the rest of the entries on consumers’ bills are difficult to understand, or even murky.
Meralco, to be fair, has launched a campaign to educate consumers about the components of its bills, but no one really understands or has the time to decipher the figures. Mistaken billings can happen and consumers can’t complain much due to their lack of knowledge on the ins and outs of electric charges. The will to complain and correct mistakes will just wilt with time.
One lawmaker, however, has taken notice of a glaring billing mistake. Rep. Dan Fernandez (Laguna, Sta. Rosa) cried out loud—Meralco owes customers at least P200 billion in refunds since 2012. By Fernandez’s computation and with the help of experts in the power distribution field, Meralco owes the money when it collected in excess of what it should charge consumers. It also owes interest on excess collections that rightfully belonged to consumers.
Meralco through a refund mechanism can return the excess collections. Customers will simply welcome the lower billing as Meralco was supposed to have already deducted the excess collection from the current rates.
The refund from the outset is logical. But there could be other options worth looking into to mollify the feelings of the aggrieved customers. Fernandez and other lawmakers wondered aloud why Meralco did not return consumers’ money in cash, which could make the process clearer and easier to understand.
For the lawmakers, the monthly bill should reflect current charges so as not to burden consumers with the arduous task of looking for where the refund was coming from.
Meralco’s erroneous billing should not have happened in the the first place, given the supposed strict regulatory environment that protects consumers from abuses. The law established the Energy Regulatory Commission to monitor and audit energy prices and yet, the private utility committed the overbill.
Did the ERC merely overlook the mistake? A startling testimony by former ERC official Agnes Devanadera at the House of Representatives appeared could provide the answer to the body’s lax supervision,
She told legislators that expenses for the audit by ERC staffers were once bankrolled by Meralco. Though the practice has been stopped because it clearly smacked of conflict-of-interest, ERC still has a lot to explain. With a new set of officials, the ERC should take a look at the conduct of its past executives. Let the mistakes of the past serve as a lesson for the new crop of ERC officials.
Electric consumers, for one, have been on the receiving end of many power supply deals that they know little, or even nothing, of. They may not have time to complain and pursue such deals with the ERC, but the commission has an obligation to act motu propio in the interest of consumers.
The ERC, thus, should start acting as the guardian of consumers.
E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or extrastory2000@gmail.com
