MORE Power inireklamo sa ERC; Consumer group hiniling na pagbayarin ng P20M na refund ang kumpanya

Sinisingil na ng Ilonggo consumers ang More Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) sa pamamagitan ng pag-refund sa halos P20-M para sa dalawang buwan, dahil umano’y labis na Systems loss charges na lampas sa 6.25% cap na isinasaad ng Energy Regulatory Commission o ERC.

Ayon sa Ilonggo consumers, itong systems loss charges ay ipinasa naman ng MORE power sa kanilang consumers na lalong nagpapahirap sa taumbayan.

Nitong Biyernes, ika-apat ng Setyembre ay sinabi ng Koalisyon Bantay Kuryente (KBK) sa pamamagitan ng virtual press conference na pormal na nilang inihain ang reklamo sa ERC para atasan ang MORE na bayaran ang mga konsumedor ng kompensasyon.

Ayon sa KBK, isang Iloilo City Consumer advocacy group, ang kanilang hakbang ay kaalinsabay sa aksiyon naman ng Panay Electric Company (PECO), na naghain din ng kaparehong reklamo dahil sa posibleng overcharging umano ng MORE ng milyun-milyong piso sa pangkalahatang ng kanilang consumers.

At para patunayan ang pagkakamali ng MORE ay ipinaliwanag ni Marcelo Cacho, PECO Head Of Public engagement and Government Affairs, na halimbawa umabot sa P0.7162/kWh ang System loss noong Mayo ng MORE at ito ay I-multiply sa monthly average total power consumption ng Iloilo City, ay aabot sa estimated 54,000 MWh, kung susumahin ang naturang halaga ay papalo sa P41 Million o mahigit sa P13M kumpara sa baseline ng PECO na nasa P28M lamang.

At dahil nagtuloy-tuloy aniya, ang billing cycle na ito ng MORE hanggang noong buwan ng Hulyo ay aabot na sa P20.9M ang Unfair charges na kanilang nakolekta sa mga Consumer.

Upon showing that the systems loss had reached 12.85% for the month of May, sabi ni Cacho, “12.85% already is way over the systems loss cap, the 0.7612 was a huge jump from their previous bill which was around 47 cents, the mark-up is close to 40%. ERC must make them accountable and hold them to answer that question.”

“The ERC should exercise its authority on MORE and investigate these matters. All these claims we are throwing—-systems loss, power outages—-we are getting these from MORE’s own data. From their own Facebook page and bills. Based on previous answers of MORE, they are just denying it and saying that the figures are bloated. But every screen shot of their Facebook is sent to ERC, ” dagdag pa nito.

Suportado naman ni PECO Legal Counsel Atty. Estrella Elamparo ang panawagan ni Cacho para sa isang independent ERC inquiry, kasabay nang paggiit na dapat mapatunayan kung talagang may katotohanan ang mga alegasyon laban sa MORE.

“If it is proven to the ERC that MORE is indeed overcharging, that should be considered a very serious violation and Congress should look into the franchise of MORE.,” she stressed. “We are asking the ERC to confirm, and if found to be true, this is tantamount to outright stealing from the people of Iloilo, tantamount to stealing to the tune of over P20 million every month, or more than P200 million every year.”

Inihalintulad pa ni Elamparo ang naturang isyu sa systems loss na kinahaharap ng Metro Manila power distributor Manila Electric Company (MERALCO).

Una nang nagbabala si Senator Sherwin Gatchalian sa posibilidad na mawalan ng prangkisa ang MERALCO dahil sa mga paglabag.

Una na ring sinabi ng tagapagsalita ng MORE Power na si Jonathan Cabrera, na mali ang pagkuwenta o computation ni KBK representative Allen Aquino sa system loss nang hindi aniya isinama ang transmission charges.

“We are calling on the ERC to conduct an assessment on the capacity of MORE Power. First, the granting was unlawful because they needed a compliance report to Congress, who would then issue a certification. But ano nangyari? Pagkatapos ng isang taon, they conducted a forcible confiscation of PECO’s facilities and that was the only basis for being granted a CPCN,” sabi ni KBK Chairman Ruperto Supena.

Ayon kay Supena, “Ilonggos were not granted any public consultation prior to the granting of MORE Power’s franchise.”

Idinadag naman ni Elamparo, na ang pagkakaloob ng prangkisa sa MORE ay masyadong minadali, “shockingly expeditious,” taking only a few weeks without any consultation, despite the fact that MORE Power was a shell mining company at the time.”

“For months, MORE Power has been boasting itself as the rightful distributor, but every time they have a problem, they choose to blame it on us instead of fixing it,” saad ni Cacho. “When the outages started, they blamed us for dilapidated equipment. When consumers complained about their failure to deliver bills, they blamed us. They have six months to fix these problems, problems that they have incurred on their own.”