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By siding once again with Meralco’s coal project, it’s nothing less than a death sentence for the people of Quezon,” said Fr. Warren Puno, regional coordinator of the South Luzon Eco-Convergence of Caritas Philippines and parish priest of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Parish in Atimonan.
From water, electricity, up to transportation, the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) projects continue to be “profit-driven,” which, according to multisectoral groups, is the culprit behind the increasing prices of social services and basic commodities.
“Quezon’s impacted communities and their supporters have spoken: we want a sustainable energy future, not coal or gas. Already, Meralco is facing much controversy for its skyrocketing electricity rates, unreliable services, and anticonsumer contracts,” said Gerry Arances, Convenor of national consumer group Power for People Coalition.
"Meralco power rates have risen by a net of four pesos per kilowatt-hour since 2020, outpacing inflation, but their franchise was renewed while unjust billing issues remain unresolved."
Former Bayan Muna Congressman Carlos Isagani Zarate decried Meralco's decision, claiming that the company is once again squeezing more from consumers who are already struggling with rising prices of basic goods.
The validation of such records "can lead to the correction of the distribution charges of Meralco to the residential and commercial customers." By MARLO MADRIGAL Bulatlat.com MANILA -- Consumer groups urged the government to review the finances of the country's...
“In the first place, it is unfair to charge consumers pass-on amounts for Meralco's obligation to its suppliers. Secondly, averaging as a basis for billing is unreasonable and grossly and stressfully untransparent. Thirdly, Meralco cannot cite higher power generation cost because there have been no spikes in the global price of oil.”
For most Filipino families, especially the poor and those in the lower income brackets, the rising costs of these basic needs mean tremendous pressure on household budgets.
“During the Congress hearings of House Resolution 566 that we filed, it was revealed that the ERC bent their own rules just to accommodate the Meralco-affiliated power generation companies.”
Power generation companies have been assured their incomes even when they don’t have to deliver much power, as when they themselves are in scheduled shutdown, or when another source is supplying energy to the distributors.
"ERC is subjecting consumers once again to the presumably overpriced negotiated prices between Meralco and its affiliated generation companies.”
'Few large private corporations control both the demand and supply of electricity for sale to consumers.'
Based on world market trends, fuel energy available to power producers now cost more than 50-percent lower. As such, the Malampaya shutdown “clearly should not result to additional costs, and thus, (there is) no basis for any power rate hike.”
“The plunge in global oil prices warrants a big-time rollback in power rates, not a big-time rate hike. The fact that power rates in the country continue to increase despite the drop in global oil prices since June 2014 deserves to be investigated. - KMU”
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat perspective Privatization, by whatever name – Build-Operate-Transfer or Public-Private Partnerships – was touted to be the solution to the inefficient, monopolistic management by government of public utilities and services. It was...
“Meralco's core net income yielded rates of return on equity of 22 percent and 26 percent in 2011 and 2012, respectively— way in excess of the 12 percent reasonable rate of return determined by the Supreme Court.” – Marcelo Tecson, former financial and management service chief of the Department of Energy
'Meralco TV ads are self-serving...'
Raymond Palatino of multisectoral alliance POWER hopes that City Resolution 6165, ‘A Resolution Expressing the Strong Opposition of the City Council of Manila to the High Electricity Rates Charged by Power Companies’ will inspire other city councils in Metro Manila to pass a similar measure.
Even as the Supreme Court has yet to decide on petitions against its November-December rate hike, Meralco is asking for the approval of a “provisional” hike, reasoning that the second tranche of the stalled rate hike is not covered by the high court’s TRO.
Since the inception of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, there were only five times when the bid offer went up to P62, but this is the first time that a generating company (Therma Mobile or TMO) was able to sell at that high a price.
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