By Francis Allan L. Angelo and Emme Rose Santiagudo
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) urged electricity consumers in Iloilo City to pay their bills to MORE Electric and Power Corp. starting with the March 2020 billing period.
In an advisory posted on its website (erc.gov.ph) on May 6, 2020, the ERC cited its March 5, 2020 order granting MORE Power “a provisional authority to operate as a distribution utility in Iloilo City and formally revoked the provisional Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) previously granted to Panay Electric Company (PECO).”
The commission stressed that “MORE Power is the only entity with the required franchise and CPCN to operate as the sole electric distribution utility in Iloilo City pursuant to Republic Act No. 11212.”
RA 11212 granted MORE Power the congressional franchise to distribute power in the city. It was signed into law by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte on Feb 14, 2019.
PECO, whose franchise expired in January 2019 and its CPCN in May 2019, continues to question the legality of MORE Power’s entry into the city.
The ERC said “all electricity consumers in Iloilo City should pay their electricity bills to MORE Power starting March 2020 billing period.”
However, the payments should be made in accordance with ERC’s May 5, 2020 advisory which amended and clarified some items in its April 15, 2020 advisory.
The April 15 notice mandated, among others, that “Distribution Utilities (DUs) and Retail Electricity Suppliers (RES) operating in areas that continue to be under the ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine) are directed to further extend the grace period for the payment of their consumers’ electricity bills falling due within the ECQ period of 16 March to 15 May 2020, without interest, penalties, fees and other charges. “
The ECQ was imposed in March 2020 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The ERC said that its directive on the “amortization of payments in four (4) equal monthly installments, payable in the four (4) succeeding billing months following the end of the ECQ shall continue to be observed, but payments thereof by customers in areas covered by ECQ extension until 15 May 2020 shall commence no earlier than 30 May 2020.”
DUs and RES that are operating in areas under the more relaxed General Community Quarantine (GCQ) “shall retain the grace period on the due date of their consumers’ electricity bills not earlier than May 15, 2020, without interest, penalties, fees and other charges.”
“Similarly, the directive on the amortization of payments in four (4) equal monthly installments, payable in the four (4) succeeding billing months is hereby reiterated.”
The ERC also said that “all concerns of the electricity consumers in Iloilo City such as applications for new connections and system maintenance must be addressed to and acted upon by MORE Power.”
All other issues pertaining to supply and billings prior to the operation of MORE Power shall be resolved by the commission.
MORE Power president and COO Roel Catro said they will seek clarification from the ERC on the staggered payment scheme for Iloilo City consumers.
In a radio interview, Castro said they have so far released the bills of over 8,000 Iloilo City consumers since they took over distribution operations on Feb 29, 2020.
“On a normal cycle, we divide a month in 24 billing days. That means the 64,000 consumers are divided into 24 days, so everyday consumers will receive their billing. We must understand that when we started, it was not normal. So, we had to read all the meters in a day then include it in the billing cycle. It was compounded when ERC said that we will extend the billing cycle because of the COVID situation. They then told us to divide the payment into four installments. Our first billing had so many variables, but we already released some 8,000 bills,” he said.
Castro said the first payment was supposed to be on May 28 yet, but some 200 consumers already made advance payment.
“I’m just asking patience from our consumers because we are just getting into the billing cycle but after this first cycle, things would be normal already,” he added.
