Bill renewing Meralco's franchise for another 25 years approved on 2nd reading

ADVERTISEMENT

dpo-dps-seal
Welcome, Kapamilya! We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. Continuing to use this site means you agree to our use of cookies. Tell me more!

Bill renewing Meralco's franchise for another 25 years approved on 2nd reading

Lyza Aquino,

ABS-CBN News

 | 

Updated Sep 25, 2024 09:27 AM PHT

Clipboard


The House of Representatives on Tuesday evening approved on second reading the bill granting the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) another 25 years of franchise.

The present franchise of Meralco will expire in 2028.

In his sponsorship speech, Albay 2nd District  Rep. Joey Salceda said Meralco has complied with all the rules of competitive selection, abides by ERC’s rules on maximum rates, has among the lowest system losses and “is highly dependable.” 

He added it is on the “lower end” of rates among neighbors in the region, administers refunds when it over-collects, complied with lifeline rates and senior citizen discounts and has not required any bailout from taxpayers, and “complies with anti market abuse mandate with single digit profit margin.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“Meralco’s mandates under its current franchise were clear. It has met its mandates hence its franchise merits renewal,” Salceda said.

Meanwhile, ACT Teacher's partylist Rep. France Castro questioned the additional tax/ fees charged to consumers such as Universal charges and Feed-in-Tariff allowance (FIT-all) that the consumers pay every month as part of their billing.

Paranaque 2nd District Rep. Gustav Tambunting, chairman of the Committee on Legislative Franchises, noted the universal charge is mandated by EPIRA law.

"EPIRA dictated that and if you would like to get rid of that or minimize that, then the review of the EPIRA [law] then that's something we should also discuss...as for the second question, FIT-all, is under the Renewable Energy Act. Congress din po ang  nag-ano niyan, maningil," he said.

Tambunting said the fees go to the Renewable Energy Generators.

ADVERTISEMENT

"Napupunta po 'yan sa Renewable Energy, RE Generators. So TransCo (National Transmission Corporation), pays the RE generators. It's like a pass on cost, pass on lang po iyan, hindi po pinagkakakitaan ng mga DUs yan. These are all given back and monitored by ERC," he said.

The issue of alleged overpricing in the electric fees was also raised by Rep. Castro during the hearing. 

Tambunting, however, said Meralco has complied and refunded their customers. 

"I understand that Meralco because of the alleged minor violations, found by ERC. If they are more than willing to refund to their customers, I would like to put on record that they have been given a certificate of compliance already by the ERC. So kung may mga infractions na maliliit, ay puwede naman po nilang ibalik sa mga customers. Pero kailangan pong patunayan."

"In the hearing that we've conducted that they [Meralco] have manifested that they have refunded these on a regular basis. I'm sure they cannot do that everyday so maybe may cut off yan every quarter... meron po silang mechanism in place for refunding," he added.

ADVERTISEMENT

The lower chamber eventually voted on the approval of House Bill No, 10926 with amendment through viva-voce voting.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

It looks like you’re using an ad blocker

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.