THE government will do well to reform the energy sector and ease the growing burden on consumers reeling from high electricity rates in the country, Senator Win Gatchalian said on Sunday.
Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, made the call in response to a recent Pulse Asia Survey poll which revealed that 60 percent of Filipinos were dissatisfied with the electricity prices.
Metro Manila residents recorded the highest dissatisfaction rate, with 84 percent expressing their discontent, according to the survey firm.
“The people need immediate respite from all these back-breaking commodity price increases, especially when it comes to their monthly electricity bills,” he said.
The government must act quickly to institute pro-consumer reforms that will produce energy savings for Filipino households, Gatchalian said.
Three primary reasons why electricity rates in the country are some of the highest across the region: bureaucratic inefficiencies that drive away potential investors; the lack of competition and transparency in power supply contracting; and the rising stranded contract costs and stranded debt left behind by the sstate-owned National Power Corp.
To solve these issues, Gatchalian urged his colleagues in both chambers of Congress to expedite the passage of three energy-related measures which could save consumers as much as ₱1.85 per kilowatt hour if they are enacted into law, thus resulting in overall savings of ₱370 per month and ₱4,440 per year for a household consuming 200 kWh per month.
The first measure, the Energy Virtual One Stop Shop Act of 2017 (Senate Bill No. 1439), seeks to cut pervasive red tape in the permitting process of new power generation projects. EVOSS now remains pending in the House of Representatives after the Senate approved it on third reading last year.
Meanwhile, the Murang Kuryente Act, a measure based on a bill authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, proposes to use the ₱207-billion Malampaya Fund to pay the stranded contract costs and stranded debt of Napocor.