Let reason prevail

Right now, the Energy Regulatory Commission is processing some 136 separate petitions for power price increases from 136 firms engaged in power distribution. All told, the country has 140 registered and operational power distribution firms. That just leaves four players unaccounted for in the mass petitions. Actually, they have also applied their applications, but their petitions are not yet considered official because of incomplete paperwork.

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Leading the petitioners is giant public utility Meralco which holds the franchise over Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Batangas, Cavite and Laguna. The ERC is presently doing the tedious job of evaluating the petitions. In the meantime, there is mounting opposition to the proposed power hikes, with the oppositors headed by militant groups like Bayan Muna.

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What is a fact, though, is that a petition for a power price increase, or any price hike for that matter, is never popular. And resistance and opposition are oftentimes spontaneous. Worse, some sectors, both well-meaning and with hidden agenda, usually fan the fire of criticism. It is amid this backdrop that the giant Meralco is the main focus of the oppositionists.

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The heat is thus on Meralco. The controversy revolves around pesos and centavos, which is strange because the Meralco petition is very clear on what price hike is being sought.

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Meralco asked for an increase of P0.30 per kilowatt hour (kWh). The prevailing cost of power distribution is P6.30/kWh. Meralco is now asking that it be allowed to peg its rates at P6.60/kWh, which is the prevailing cost of power distribution. It is this requested hike that Bayan sector Rep. Crispin Beltran is noisly objecting to. Meralco, though, is asking where Beltran got his statistics.

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In answer, Beltran and Bayan base their claim on what they call "hidden rate increases" on the PPA (power purchase adjustment in the electric bill. Under the current billing system, electric charges are lumped together under PPA, which includes generation, transmission, and distribution costs.

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Now, here comes a problem. RA 9136, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, requires the "unbundling" of the charges lumped under PPA It is in compliance with this requiremen5t that Meralco filed its petition for unbundling with PPC. Note that under the law, the ERC must approve revisions in the billing system. Thus, Meralco’s petition. It is this particular petition that Bayan and Beltran’s mob are anchoring their opposition to Meralco’s request with ERC.

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Actually, our electricity bills hold secrets on where what we pay ends up. The general impression is that Meralco is the bad guy that gets everything we pay. That is the impression because Meralco bills us and we pay Meralco. What is generally unknown is that the bulk of the money we pay Meralco ends up with the government-owned National Power Corporation. Note that Meralco does not produce electricity. It buys electricity from Napocor to the extent of 90 percent of its requirements.

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We pay Meralco the amount of P4.41 as the actual cost of electricity per kWh. On receiving our payment, Meralco immediately turns around and remits exactly the same amount to Napocor. In effect, Meralco is simply Napocor’s vendor and collector, working under rates imposed by Napocor.

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All right, let us complain against power rate increases. But in venting our ire o Meralco, are we not barking at the wrong tree?

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The bottom line is that Meralco seeks an increase of P0.30 in the pKh price of electricity. If approved, this would be the first power rate increase since a994. Fair or unfair? That is for the ERC to evaluate.

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To be sure, ERC must protect the interest of the public by ensuring that the price of electricity is reasonable. But at the same time, the ERC is mandated to allow the utilities to earn reasonable returns on their investments. In the twin quest for reasonable rates and reasonable profits, we must not let the unreasonable agitators hold sway in the debate.

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Regarding that recent sea incident involving Maria Carmela, what was most surprising was the speech with which the government authorities concerned gave their absolution to the shipowners. Even before the ship sunk to the bottom the sea, the Marina and Philippine Coast Guard were already announcing to media that there no violations committed, contrary to the allegations made by the survivors.

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In contrast, other sea tragedies where hundreds or thousands of passengers perished, it took years, sometimes never, before a verdict was handed down by the appointed adjudication board. On the contrary, many shipowers were able to escape the long arm of the law and got away scot free. And all they doled out to the families of the dead and the injured were a pittance.

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Something fishy stinks in the incident involving Maria Carmela. Note that over two dozen died from that sea mishap. Independent probers from other agencies should step in and validate the premature claims of Marina and the Philippine Coast Guard. As it stands now, the government maritime authorities seem to be acting as lawyers for the owners of the burnt and sunken vessel.

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Thoughts For Today:

Today, plant seeds of love,

success and happiness,

and these will come back to you in abundance.

This is the law of nature.

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Every flower blooms when it is time.



Every prayer is answered in God’s time.

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My e-mail addresses: [email protected] and [email protected]