Fake news

By Manuel P. Mejorada

In this era when information travels at lightning speed across the world, I would have wanted to see people use technology in a responsible way. That it should be used to promote good. Sadly, this era has also witnessed the sprouting of fake news. It’s everywhere. And it’s being used as a weapon to cause confusion.

This is what came to mind when I stumbled across a news story in a local newspaper two weeks ago about the purported defects in the electric meters installed by the new power distributor for Iloilo City, More Electric and Power Corp. The story is being peddled by Panay Electric Co. (Peco) which had ceased to legally operate as the franchise electric company in Iloilo City.

Apparently, PECO wants to poison the minds of consumers that the GE I-120 electric meters being used by MORE will bring about inaccurate readings and cause their monthly bills to shoot up far beyond actual consumption.

PECO simply cannot accept the truth that it’s no longer the operator of the city’s electric utility franchise after a century of doing business. It’s not going to change just because of the fake news that it is trying to plant into the people’s minds.

The irony is that the issue being raised is inaccurate billing statements that showed astronomical jumps in the amounts due from households and businesses. If anything, PECO is shooting its own feet. The issue of monstrous monthly bills was one of the major charges brought against the Cacho-owned company when Ilonggos clamored for non-renewal of its franchise.

Anyhow, the issue tickled my interest. I did my own research.

As it turns out, there was indeed a controversy about the U.S.-based Central Maine Power Co. (CMP) being fined a hefty $10 million by the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) for billing problems that generated erroneous bills for many customers.

Marcelo Cacho, PECO’s head of Public Engagement and Government Affairs, wanted to make it to appear that the culprit was the GE I-120 electric meter. I was furnished a copy of the statement issued by Acara Meters (formerly GE Meters) that addressed the issue raised by Cacho.

Acara cited a report made by the MPUC that established, beyond any doubt, that GE I-120 electric meters were not at all the culprit for the erroneous billing for a small business owner in Maine, a certain Rob du Paul.

Du Paul’s complaint was mentioned by Cacho in his press statement.

The MPUC apparently takes complaints like that of Du Paul seriously (Which is very much unlike our experience with the Energy Regulatory Board). It engaged an independent forensics investigator to look into the complaint.

In a report dated January 9, 2020, the forensics auditor noted that there was nothing wrong with the electric meters for 2,290 CMP customers who had billing complaints, except for one. That particular customer’s electric meter wasn’t a GE I-120.

“The evidence in the record shows that there is no systemic problem with Central Maine Power’s (CMP) metering or billing systems to cause the high energy measurements and increased bills,” forensics investigator said.

Cacho claimed that Du Paul complained about his business power utility bill going up to $1,500 from the usual $100 a month after CMP replaced his electric meter with a GE I-120 device.

However, this claim is not supported by Du Paul himself. In a guest column for a newspaper in Maine, the Bangor Daily News, Du Paul attributed the erroneous billing to the CMP’s Smart Care system. Indeed, as reported by the forensics auditor, there were defects in the Smart Care system of CMP. The electric meters had nothing to do with the errors.

Instead the reported attributed the spike in bills and usage to a “record-breaking cold snap from December 2017 into January 2018 and a double-digit increase in the standard-offer electricity supply price in January 2018.

Based on evidence, the CMP’S metering and billing systems were not the root cause, the forensics auditor said.

Interestingly, Cacho acknowledged that the GE I-120 electric meter had passed the ERC-accreditation standards. Is he saying that the ERC is remiss in its job of protecting consumers?

It is understandable that PECO would want the franchise back. The business has generated billions of pesos of income for the Cacho family. But it’s gone, forever. MORE has a legal right to operate the distribution utility. There’s nothing that stands in the way, not even a desperate resort to fake news and try to mislead the people of Iloilo city.

Now that Iloilo City, as with the rest of the country, is battling the Covid 19 pandemic, PECO should step out of the way so that MORE can fulfill its mandate of providing a stable power supply to Iloilo City. It would be criminal for PECO to throw spikes on the road to cause problems for MORE. It has had its chance in 100 years. It’s nobody else’s fault that PECO squandered that opportunity.

PECO killed its own goose that lay the golden eggs