ERC to sanction more DUS that breached lockdown billing rules

THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is expected to issue more decisions penalizing distribution utilities (DUS) that did not comply with the agency’s billing directives.

The agency did not identify the DUS because it has yet to receive the replies as to why they should not be penalized for, among others, collecting the Feed-in Tariff Allowance (FIT-ALL) and Universal Charge-environmental Charge (UC-EC) from their consumers during the quarantine period.

“Many have complained to us. We reviewed the reports and we saw that there were many violators. We told them not to collect the FIT-ALL and UC-EC but they still did. So what the ERC did was to write them and we asked them to explain,” said ERC Chairman and CEO Agnes VST Devanadera.

“I cannot say how much is the penalty because we are still waiting for their reply to the ERC order requiring them to explain as to why in our initial evaluation they committed those violations,” she added.

The ERC also issued several advisories deferring payment of electricity bills falling due within the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) without interests, penalties, fees and other charges. Still, consumers experienced bill shocks due to confusing billing statements.

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), for one, faced rampant complaints over the unexplained surge in the monthly electricity bills of consumers at the height of the summer community quarantine.

The ERC last week fined Meralco P19 million for violating the regulatory agency’s advisories. In particular, Meralco did not clearly indicate that the bills were estimated. It also failed to comply with the mandated installment payment arrangement.

The ERC decision maintained that under the circumstances, prudence dictates that Meralco, in the presentation of information to the consumers should always account the normal behavior of consumers.

“Meralco’s neglect to provide accurate and timely information especially during this time of pandemic has created chaos and confusion to most of the electricity consuming public. The Commission issued the relevant Advisories with the intention of alleviating the financial burden of the electricity consumers who were mostly adversely affected by the community quarantine measures implemented by the government. This serious neglect by Meralco resulted [in] a multitude of complaints filed by its consumers to this Commission,” Devanadera had said.

The ERC then warned other DUS to take the agency’s advisories very seriously. “Our Advisories were issued to aid the electricity consumers in light of the ongoing pandemic. It was supposed to provide a respite from the various financial woes of the consumers. In real time response to the changes brought forth by the pandemic, the Commission hereby intervenes and provides relief to the most affected consumers in the form of discount to the applicable retail rate,” Devanadera said.

The ERC chief also told consumers to pay for their consumed electricity should they find no discrepancy in their billing statements. “We call on the consumers to pay for what they think is the correct billing for their electricity consumption. Let’s pay if we think that there was no error in the bill sent to us,” she added.