Capelco backs Marcos push to end system loss charges

By Felipe V. Celino

ROXAS CITY, Capiz — The Capiz Electric Cooperative (Capelco) supports President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call to stop passing system loss charges on to electricity consumers.

Capelco General Manager Edgar Diaz said the cooperative is ready to implement the policy once the necessary law and its implementing rules and regulations take effect.

During his State of the Nation Address, Marcos urged Congress to immediately amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to prohibit the collection of system loss charges, including the corresponding value-added tax (VAT), from consumers.

Diaz explained that system loss is the difference between the electricity supplied by power plants and the electricity consumed and billed to end-users.

He said some electricity is lost as it travels through transmission and distribution lines because of both technical and nontechnical factors.

Technical losses occur as electricity passes through wires and transformers, which generate heat, as well as because of voltage and power system stability requirements.

Nontechnical losses, meanwhile, include electricity theft and illegal power connections.