ILOILO City – MORE Electric and Power Corporation’s (MORE Power) bill deposit refund initiative and lower power rates reaped praises from Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairman Atty. Monalisa Dimalanta.
The city’s sole power distributor is efficiently managed and complies with the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers, she said.
Other distribution utilities (DUs) should follow MORE Power, Dimalanta added.
“We encourage this culture of accountability among the regulated entities as demonstrated by MORE Power,” said the ERC chief.
ERC is the government’s power industry regulator. It promotes and protects the interests of consumers and other stakeholders in the electricity industry to ensure sustained economic growth and improve the people’s quality of life. Specifically, it ensures reasonable power rates in accordance to Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power and Industry Reform Act (EPIRA Law).
“The Commission has heightened the monitoring of regulated entities. This is bringing to the surface negative practices to correct as well as positive practices to promote,” Dimalanta said.
The decrease in MORE Power’s electricity rate has been consistent for six consecutive months this year; it is confident that this will continue until the end of the year.
Last week, MORE Power announced a significant reduction in the average residential rate for the billing months of May to June 2023.
The residential rate for the month of May to June dropped by almost P1 to P12.2990 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from P13.2511 per kWh.
Meanwhile, according to Engineer Niel Parcon, MORE Power’s vice president for corporate planning and regulatory affairs, there are two of the major factors in the decrease. These included their purchase of geothermal energy from the Energy Development Corporation’s geothermal plant in Leyte and the decrease in the price of coal in the world market from $488 to $200 per ton.
Also, in a historic first, MORE Power has started refunding the bill deposits of qualified consumers – those who have paid their bills religiously for 36 months.
For this year, MORE Power projects its bill deposit refunds to reach over P5 million./PN
