The House of Representatives will investigate whether the Energy Regulation Commission (ERC) was remiss in allowing the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to raise its transmission charges, which, in turn, triggered the “unexplainable surge’ in electricity rates during the pandemic.
In seeking a House inquiry, six lawmakers also want the chamber to find out if the NGCP could be “obligated to refund” to electricity consumers an estimated over-recovery of P53.3 billion from 2016 to 2020 by way of lower power rates.
This is based on the country’s lower Risk Free Rate and other factors such as depreciation that were supposed to have reduced investors’ interest rate from 10% in 2010 to just 4 percent in 2015.
Before Congress adjourned sine die last June 5, these legislators led by Deputy Speakers Dan Fernandez and LRay Villafuerte filed House Resolution 953 urging the House committee on good government and public accountability to investigate “the recent unexplainable surge in power rates.”
They said the surge was not justified considering “millions have lost their income and are struggling to survive” in the face of the global health crisis spawned by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak.
The lawmakers said in HR 953 that the unwarranted power rate hike could be “indicative of failures in regulatory oversight of the power industry, particularly the transmission sector,” hence requiring a congressional inquiry with an eye to “eas(ing) the burden of electricity consumers resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“ERC’s approval of NGCP’s higher transmission charge couldn’t have come at a worse time for Filipino consumers as they are now confronted with higher electricity bills even as many of them have lost their income because of the work stoppage,” Villafuerte said.
Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)
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