Wazzup Pilipinas!?
Amid consecutive rate hikes, the Power for People Coalition (P4P) on Thursday slammed the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) for continuing to choose to pass on higher costs of electricity to consumers - including, recently, the landed cost of gas-powered plants operated by FirstGen right after the end of passed-on spot market costs collection this month.
Landed cost refers to the expenses in the storage and regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG) – which is the state in which gas is transported from sources overseas. Meralco has also been collecting additional pass-on charges from its consumers since June, ending in September, from the cost of procuring electricity from the spot market in the summer, when the grid suffered numerous yellow and red alerts.
“Meralco has stumbled upon a new way to collect even more money from consumers – it will make consumers pay for the consequences of its bad decisions on using fossil fuels on top of the pass-on charges it already collects on the market cost of these said energy sources. The consumer is hit with a trifecta – they pay for the cost to generate and deliver electricity, they pay for the cost of the fuel to produce the electricity, and then they pay yet again for the failure of power plants to deliver the expensive electricity because DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla and the big energy players continue to promote coal and gas. In allowing landed costs to be included in the recovery, Meralco is paving the path for everyone in the power industry to make money at the expense of ordinary consumers,” said Gerry Arances, P4P Convenor.
Arances added that P4P is launching a campaign – Nagmamahal, Meralco – to mobilize consumers to fight the excessive charges that the distribution utility passes on to them.
“We are relaunching a campaign called Nagmamahal, Meralco, to unite all consumers of Meralco to show their displeasure and put pressure on the company to stop its remorseless milking," said Arances.
Aaron Pedrosa, Secretary-General of Sanlakas, stressed that the decision stretches the limit of what is allowed by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, or EPIRA, which governs the energy sector.
“The law only allows ‘prudent’ and ‘reasonable’ economic costs to be recovered by these power companies. The ERC decision approving the staggered collection of LNG landing costs has given them a free hand to remove all skin from the game yet retain all profits. This decision, alongside the previous one on spot market costs, means 16 months of extraordinary pass-on charges collected from consumers on top of the other unjustified costs, such as fuel costs,” he said.
“Electric consumers are slapped with expensive power rates at a time when unemployment and the cost of basic commodities are rising. Instead of providing much-needed relief to power consumers, Meralco is taking advantage of its position as both a power generator and distributor to get away with amassing superprofits at the expense of the people,” added Pedrosa.
Ka Leody de Guzman of Partido Lakas ng Masa slammed Meralco for the increased suffering it will bring to ordinary workers.
“Ber months na, naunahan na ng Meralco mga inaanak ng manggagawa sa pamamasko. Ang kaibahan, hindi malugod na mag-aabot ng pera ang mga manggagawa – magbabawas sila ng kakainin at iba pang gastusin para lamang mapunan ang walang katapusang gutom ng mga kumpanya ng kuryente para sa pera ng taumbayan,” he said.
“Hindi pinili ng ordinaryong mamamayan na gumamit ng coal na laging nasisira ang mga planta, pero sila ang magbabayad para dito. Hindi ginusto ng mamamayan na gumamit ng gas, pero sila na ang magbabayad sa pag-angkat nito, pati pag-imbak nito ay iaatang din sa kanila. Ano na ang susunod, pass-on charges para sa mga bonus ng mga executive ng Meralco? Dapat nang matigil ang kalakarang ito,” he added.
References: Gerry Arances (P4P), Ka Leody de Guzman (PLM), Atty. Aaron Pedrosa (Sanlakas)
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