Electric bills of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) consumers have been doubled since the Electricity Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) was implemented in 2000, a lawmaker said Tuesday.
Reps Luz Ilagan of Gabriela Party-list cited records from consumer group People Opposed to Warrantless Electricity Rates (Power) which show that Meralco customers were only billed at the average rate of P4.87 per kilowatt hour (kwh) in 2001 until it reached an average rate of P10.35 per kwh in 2010.
Worse, Ilagan said Meralco, the country’s biggest power distributor, increased its overall generation charge for the month of June from P5.02 to P5.53 per kwh.
“This simply is too much to bear for the average Filipino family,” Ilagan said, adding that Meralco also announced a P0.20 increase in generation charges in April this year.
Having said that, Ilagan called on their colleagues to seriously work for the repeal of EPIRA Law since it has not served its purpose of bringing down electricity rates since it was first implemented 10 years ago.
“I urge my colleagues in Congress to correct this error and immediately review and repeal the Epira and pass measures that will bring help electricity rates down. The Epira is a failure. That Filipino families now contend with having to pay the highest electricity rates in Asia is enough proof that Congress has done a great disservice by enacting this law,” Ilagan pointed out.
She also called for a review of multiple taxation schemes being imposed on electricity consumers as a way to help ease the burden of high electricity rates.
