Senator Sherwin Gatchalian asked retailer Manila Electric Co. to reduce its system loss to 5 percent of electricity sales.
Gatchalian lauded Meralco during a Senate hearing for reducing its system loss to 6.5 percent in 2015, but said the company should bring it down further.
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate committee on energy, acknowledged that Meralco also invested billions of pesos to bring down its system loss.
“If we reduce it from 6.5 [percent] to 5 [percent], the consumers will save about P3 billion a year,” he said.
Gatchalian said it would be more prudent for the Senate committee to wait for the extensive study being conducted by Energy Regulatory Commission.
“The government has already paid for that and I think the results of the study will further enlighten the committee whether to pursue the two bills being proposed,” he said.
Two proposed bills seek to tackle systems loss, including Senate Bill No. 1058 authored by Sen. Manny Pacquiao and Senate Bill No. 1188 of Gatchalian.