ERC: No power rate hike yet

The Energy Regulatory Commission assured power consumers that there will be no power rate increase for the first quarter of next year.

ERC chairman and chief executive officer Rodolfo Albano Jr. emphasized that any rate adjustment will not be reflected in the consumers' bill without having been subjected to public hearings and scrutiny.

Albano made the clarification in reaction to reports, particularly the statement of Consumer and Oil Price Watch chairman Raul Concepcion who warned consumers of a possible increase in prices of electricity next year.

"Mr. Concepcion should not preempt the ERC and should not make scary statements that will drive the spirit of the holiday season away from every Filipino home. Mr. Concepcion is instead invited to participate in the public hearings to witness how ERC exercises transparency in undertaking due process and evaluation," Albano said in a press statement, "the rate adjustment cases filed by the power providers have yet to complete the required evaluations and public hearings; thus no conclusion can be drawn at this time."

Albano added that the ERC vows to uphold its mandate to protect electricity consumers against rate shocks that may result from price adjustments triggered by economic factors such as hike in fuel cost, currency adjustments and other factors that may have an impact on electricity rates.

"The ERC assures that the electricity consumers will never experience rate shocks," Albano said.

Earlier, Concepcion has cautioned the electricity consumers to brace for an aggregate increase of more than P7 per kilowatt-hour in their electricity bills next year, as based on the separate rate adjustment applications filed by the National Power Corporation and the Manila Electric Company.

Consumers in the Visayas and Mindanao and other parts of the country may also experience an increase in power rates as the application of the NPC applies to consumers who uses the power it supplies.

NPC is asking for an increase in generation charge for the P10.736-billion worth of deferred accounting adjustments covering November 2005 to January 2006. -Wenna A. Berondo/BRP