ERC warned against approving 7 power supply deals that may hike electricity rates
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has been warned against approving the controversial seven multi-trillion peso power supply agreements awarded to seven generation companies.
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate issued the warning to ERC Chairperson Agnes Devanadera who was allegedly set to approve the anomalyridden contracts to Meralco’s sister companies. He said that if the warning is ignored, graft and criminal charges will be filed.
Zarate said he has received reports that there have been attempts in the ERC to approve the onerous and expensive PSAs despite Meralco’s failure to comply with the competitive selection process (CSP).
“While earlier ERC accommodations for the Meralco PSAs came before Devanadera assumed ERC’s leadership, we guarantee that any attempt on her part to approve the PSAs despite clear findings of violations would earn for her criminal and administrative charges,” Zarate vowed.
The opposition lawmaker added: “We will also file similar charges anew against the other commissioners who will also approve it.”
Zarate is among the lawmakers who have openly assailed reported irregularities in the awarding of the PSAs to Meralco and its sister companies.
The House Committees on Good Government and Accountability have terminated the joint inquiry conducted on the issue.
The two panels have reportedly concluded in their joint report that officials and employees of ERC, then chaired by Jose Vicente Salazar, may have committed wrongdoing related to the issuance of a resolution that delayed the implementation of the CSP.
An ERC program designed to get the least cost of electricity, the CSP was supposed to have been launched on Nov. 7, 2015. But months after the program started, the ERC under Salazar delayed its start to April 30, 2016 by issuing said Resolution No. 1.
The questionable delay allowed Meralco to file with the ERC at the last minute the PSAs negotiated deal outside CSP. But the joint House committee report concluded that the said ERC Resolution No. 1 was likewise illegal.
Four ERC commissioners were earlier suspended by the Ombudsman for their role in issuing Resolution No. 1. Salazar, who was fired by President Duterte before the Ombudsman came out with the decision, was ordered to pay a fine equivalent to six months of his ERC salary.
“Millions of Filipinos under Meralco’s franchise area will suffer from exorbitant rates, if ERC under Devanadera approves these exorbitant PSAs. But we will hold her, as well as other ERC officials and employees, accountable if they accommodate these expensive PSAs,” Zarate added.
Zaratehad earlier disclosed that a hefty per kilowatt-hour increase in electricity rates will greet Meralco customers under the seven PSAs. According to him, Meralco is hiding the exorbitant rate by using deceptive assumptions in computing its power rates.