ILOILO City – The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) urged the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) to stop collecting congestion and other applicable charges from consumers.
“Congestion and other charges attributable to the damage of the Cebu-Negros submarine cable not caused by the consumers should not be charged to them,” said ERC chairperson and chief executive officer Agnes Devanadera, addressing PEMC president Leonido Pulido.
Devanadera said the deferment of the charges – which include but not limited to line rentals – would be until the “complete restoration and operationalization” of the damaged National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) transmission line, or until a “more applicable pricing and settlement solution” is ordered by ERC.
ERC likewise told PEMC to refund customers for the billing period of June to August 2021.
ERC said the refund must be done in a period equivalent to the number of months covered by the subject collections, that is, the collection of two months’ congestion and other applicable charges shall be refunded within a period of at most two months.
More Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) president Roel Castro affirmed there will indeed be a refund.
Castro said the power rate will also revert back to less than P7 per kilowatt hour (/kWh), or before the high line rental line imposition, from P7.99/kWh.
“Without the line congestion, we should really be less than P7/kWh. The month before the line rental charges, ang presyo natin was something at P6.55/kWh,” Castro said.
In the meantime, Castro said they will wait for PEMC’s response.
“I could already anticipate that the letter of PEMC (to us) will be in accordance to the letter of ERC to them,” said Castro.
Castro was thankful to ERC. More Power was among the first to file a complaint, and later on collaborated by other stakeholders.
Moreover, PEMC was further told to defer the payment of congestion and other applicable charges to affected generation companies.
Devanadera copy furnished her order to Cong. Julienne Baronda of Iloilo City and Cong. Mike Gorriceta of Iloilo’s 2nd District who earlier raised the power hike concern.
Baronda welcomed the development, saying ERC “listened to our pleas and stood up for the welfare of the Ilonggo consumers.”
Along with Mayor Jerry Treñas and other groups, Baronda added they will make sure that the directive issued by the ERC to PEMC will be complied with.
“The least we could do (to) our people in the wake of the pandemic is to lessen their burden– the lower cost of electricity is one way to alleviate their suffering,” said Baronda.
The Cebu-Negros 138 kV Line tripped on June 15, 2021 at due to the damage caused by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on one of the lines of the Cebu-Negros submarine cable during dredging activities along Bio-os River in Barangay Jagna, Amlan, Negros Oriental.
The damage consequently resulted to decreased transfer capacity of the Cebu-Negros submarine cable resulting to congestion that limits the available supply.
Consequently, costlier diesel plants have been tapped to compensate for the load required, ultimately setting the marginal costs that define the current pricing in Negros and Panay.
Further, electricity prices have also been influenced by the high line rental due to congestion.
Significant increases in the electricity rates of consumers in the subject areas have been observed beginning in their June billing.
The significant increases in electricity billings have been decried by many stakeholders in Panay and Negros as an unreasonable burden to consumers and businesses./PN