Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday made the case for a refund on consumers' power bills, citing a mechanism which she said allowed private firms to profit excessively.
Hontiveros said the Energy Regulatory Commission has allowed the National Grid Corp of the Philippines and Meralco to earn over P12 billion since 2019 by keeping the two firms weighted average cost of capital or WACC fixed at the 2015 rate of 15%.
Hontiveros said the WACC could be brought down to 6.48% to allow a P0.10 per kilowatt hour (kWh) reduction in the transmission charge being passed on to consumers. For Meralco, a WACC pegged at 8% would mean a P0.48 per kWh decrease in the transmission charge.
"Yan ang return of investment na nakukuha ng NGCP at Meralco. ERC ang nagtatakda kung magkano yan. Bakit pinayagan ng ERC na kumita ang mga ito ng sobra-sobra? Sinadya ba ito para manatiling mataas ang kita ng NGCP at Meralco?" the senator told reporters in a virtual interview.
"Panawagan natin na magkaroon ng refund sa ating mga electric consumers," she added.
"Kapag pinagsama ang dalawa, ito ay aabot sa P0.58 per kWh. Makakatipid ng P116 kada buwan ang mga kumukonsumo ng 200 per kWh," she said.
The reduction in the transmission charges would help consumers a lot, Hontiveros said, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) whose earnings have been slashed by COVID quarantines.
"Yung mga MSMEs nga natin mga tubong lugaw lang para makabenta pero sila, bilyon-bilyon ang inuuwing kita. Negosyo na talaga ang ating power industry. Hindi ito dapat pinapayagan ng ERC," she added.
Hontiveros earlier called for suspension of any power rate hike until regulators explain why the cost of electricity is rising and until an investigation into last summer's rotating brownouts is finished.
Meralco said it would increase rates in August by P0.0965 per kWh, but assured customers in areas under lockdown that there would be no disconnection for the meantime.
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