The Energy Regulatory Commission said Thursday electricity charges of some electric cooperatives and distribution utilities reached as high as P17 per kilowatt-hour.
This prompted the regulator to investigate the accuracy and reasonableness of the generation rates being passed on by electric co-ops and distribution utilities to consumers.
It said it started holding a power supply agreement caravan around the country to help consumers and the electric cooperatives address the high electricity prices.
“There already exists a global crisis on the rising prices of oil and coal, which caused electricity rates to increase. These problems are the reasons why we are here to find solutions. No one knows everything, but if we work together, we can survive this extraordinary period,” ERC commissioner Marko Romero Fuentes said.
ERC recently held a caravan with four distribution utilities in Davao region as they joined forces in finding possible solutions to address the increasing power rates brought about by the spike in the global prices of coal.
Fuentes led the consultative meeting in exploring feasible immediate measures to ease the burden of electricity consumers who would have to set aside additional funds to pay for higher electric bills.
The ERC earlier suspended the collection of the feed-in tariff allowance to spare the consumers from paying P0.0364 per kWh for the next three billing months starting December.
ERC chairperson and chief executive Monalisa Dimalanta Dimalanta said that in the course of the agency’s monitoring of monthly submissions from PUs/ECs of their generation charges, the ERC identified the need to conduct a more thorough validation of the passed-on or pass-through charges under certain PSAs.
The ERC said this was prompted by the recent increases in electricity rates and the numerous complaints received from consumers.
The nationwide investigation will cover private utilities and electric cooperatives in the country and their respective power suppliers under their power supply agreements.
Sources said some ECs charged as high as P13 per kilowatt-hour amid the increase in fuel costs.
Dimalanta said the validation requires submission of documents to support the detailed calculation of fuel charges that account for a significant portion of the increases in electricity rates since January 2022.
The ERC released the first batch of directives addressed to PUs/ECs and their respective PSA counterparties for the substantiation of the generation charges.
Dimalanta said the investigation aimed to confirm whether the charges passed on to the consumers were eligible costs and there were no hidden or extraordinary charges. Alena Mae S. Flores