Romblon Electric Cooperative (ROMELCO) asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to suspend and reverse the implementation of “significantly higher” electricity rates set to begin next month for commercial and industrial customers.
ROMELCO, in a statement, called for the rate hike’s reversal, citing that the province is still recovering from a recent typhoon and that the rate increase represents a heavy burden on the people of Romblon and the wider MIMAROPA region.
The ERC, in a decision issued on Sept. 23, 2025, granted the National Power Corp. (NPC) an interim relief to increase the subsidized approved generation rate (SAGR) for Small Power Utility Group (SPUG) areas.
The approved rate hike will be implemented over two years, involving P0.9282 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the first year for a new SAGR rate of P8.3182 per kWh and P0.9282 per kWh in the second year for a new SAGR rate of P9.2464 per kWh.
ROMELCO said the two-year increase totals P1.8564 per kWh. Added to earlier SAGR levels that rose from P5.6404 per kWh to P7.3900 per kWh in March 2024, the cumulative increase now stands at P3.6060 per kWh, it said.
The electric cooperative said the new increase is set to take effect in November and noted that while the current decision is for commercial and industrial customers, a second round could be for residential customers.
NPC had proposed increasing SAGR to P8.5982 per kWh for residential customers and P10.0488 per kWh for industrial and commercial customers.
ROMELCO general manager and Association of Isolated Electric Cooperatives (AIEC) president Rene Fajilagutan said the rate hike could have been “tamed significantly” by adjusting the universal charge for missionary electrification (UCME) by just P0.02 per kWh instead of directly burdening customers in MIMAROPA. Fajilagutan said AIEC will seek reconsideration and reversal of the ERC decision.
ROMELCO said its earlier estimates projected that commercial and industrial customers consuming between 1,000 and 2,000 kWh may see their electricity bills surge by 600 percent.
“We fought this proposal vigorously,” Fajilagutan said, adding that ROMELCO even commissioned a comprehensive impact study that was praised by the ERC hearing officer. “Yet, in the end, ERC still sided with NPC.”
