Outgoing Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said power rates in the Philippines still have room to fall further.
“One thing we did in the commission as early as Nov. 2022 was to ask distribution utilities to conduct fuel audits,” Dimalanta said.
“It turned out that there are electric co-ops, distribution utilities that are not looking for fuel invoices from suppliers before charging consumers,” she said.
Dimalanta noted that more than 60 percent of the country’s power supply comes from coal and gas plants.
“The approvals there by the commission are that you can pass through fuel costs, but you have to make sure that you are not earning [from] fuel,” Dimalanta said.
“Whichever is lower is always the condition of the commission. They have show cause orders for that. The others have returned, our point is that you should not charge without a basis. The review is not yet complete,” she said.
Dimalanta said the unsubstantiated fuel costs should be refunded once the commission finishes its review, hopefully by the end of the year.
“They should not have charged,” she said. “This is an opportunity for the charge to come down. There is still room for lowering the rates if everyone is disciplined, under our own respective mandates.”
She said power generation charges have been decreasing since January 2023.
“This year, since January until now, we have seen a significant lowering of rates in most regions in the country,” Dimalanta said.
“I think in almost [every] region, except two. Lowest generation rate in the last 10 years. I think that alone is a good sign. But that’s not the only job of ERC, it’s all about energy and improved market conditions,” she said.
Dimalanta also cited the Retail Aggregation Program (RAP) as another legacy of her term.
RAP allows electricity end-users with multiple facilities to combine their demand and qualify for participation in the retail electricity market.
This enables groups and institutions from various sectors to choose their electricity supplier, potentially reducing their energy costs while supporting the government’s goal of a more competitive and consumer-empowered energy sector.
“EPIRA mandated that this happens, that this power to choose should be realized,” she said, referring to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. “Finally we are getting to realize the promise of EPIRA. It’s not an option whether we choose to go that way or not, it’s our mandate.”
