PROGRESSIVE groups on Tuesday said an increase in electricity rates at this point is ill-timed, following a Supreme Court (SC) decision upholding a 2013 approved rate hike application by the country’s biggest distributor.
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. France L. Castro said the approval of the “all-time power rate hike” by Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will only add to the burden of Filipinos due to the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis.
“The government must do its job to uplift the lives of the people rather than impose heavy burdens,” he said in a statement in Filipino.
The lawmaker appealed to the High Court not to revoke the temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementation of Meralco’s staggered charges and recovery costs totaling P22.64 billion.
The TRO was issued in April 2014.
Under the latest High Court decision, Meralco may implement an additional charge of P4.15 per kilowatt hour, according to dissenting Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier said.
Meralco applied for the rate increase after the maintenance shutdown of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V.’s Malampaya gas-to-power project, which forced the company to purchase more expensive supply from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.
The Energy Regulatory Commission approved Meralco’s request to charge consumers in a staggered price-setting but denied payment of carrying costs.
Meralco said it has yet to receive a copy of the court decision.
Former Bayan Muna Party-list representative Carlos Isagani T. Zarate said the High Court’s decision on the “highest power rate hike in history could not have come at a worse time.”
“With the prices of basic commodities still skyrocketing due to continued big time oil price hikes and the weakening of the peso, this is another unwanted burden on our people,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan