The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) welcome the recent decision of the
Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordering the National Power Corporation
to provisionally reduce its rates by 4.3 centavos for Luzon, 31.51
centavos for Visayas, 0.45 centavos for Mindanao following the
strengthening of peso against the dollar. But it cries for higher
reduction in the electricity rates.
We view these reductions as short-lived as they depended on the
peso-dollar exchange rates which fluctuate constantly. The strengthening
of peso is thus far not sustainable. The reductions only have
"deodorizing effect" to the continually high power rates in our country
for so many years now since the government admitted that it continues to
charge the electricity consumers for the purchased electricity from the
independent power producers even when this is not generated nor delivered.
The consumers are made to pay for this before through the purchased power
adjustment (PPA) and now through the cost recovery mechanism called the
generation rate adjustment mechanism and the incremental currency exchange
rate adjustment (ICERA) under which NPC regularly applies for rates
adjustment at the ERC.
GRAM includes the incremental fuel and the power purchased cost of
generation charge to the Independent Power Producer (IPP) while ICERA
includes the foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Both
applications were filed by NPC last year and provisionally approved last
Tuesday, but still subject for a public hearing per decision of ERC.
We stress that for as long as the government continues to legitimize the
onerous and anomalous IPP contracts, any reduction is palliative.
Ultimately, the consumer will always be burdened by the huge amount of
guarantees which includes the take-or-pay provision, fuel cost and
exchange rate fluctuations.
The consumers have suffered enough from high electricity rates. We want
lower electricity rates. Cancel the onerous IPP contracts.
No comments:
Post a Comment