Perez backs fiscal autonomy, budget increase for ERC

Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Vincent S. Perez has expressed his support in the grant of broader fiscal autonomy for the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the corporate watchdog in the country’s energy sector.

This, as Perez also said the judicial courts should "leave the ERC alone in its rate-making decision," noting that the regulatory body has the competence to come up and resolve rate-related issues in the power industry.

The Court of Appeals (CA) recently reverted the ERC’s decision on the Manila Electric Co.’s unbundled rate petition, saying that the ERC should have sought the Commission on Audit’s approval first on Meralco’s rate application.

The ERC has been seeking fiscal autonomy from all electric industry stakeholders, pointing out that this will lead to a more efficient ERC once given greater flexibility in its operations.

The ERC said in other jurisdictions, such as the state of Nevada in the US, the regulator is allowed to collect a regulatory fee of half a cent per kilowatthour (kwh) from electric utilities.

The ERC said it is in dire need of funds to train its personnel, buy modern meter testing equipment, and intensify its regulatory investigation and inspection activities.

At present, ERC is exempted from the coverage of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL), but its employees are the lowest paid in the electric industry.

ERC is currently regulating state-owned power firms such as the National Power Corp., National Transmission Co. and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. whose combined budget and manpower for 2003 stood at P263 billion and 7,601, respectively.