Group wants Aquino to repeal EPIRA

Amid an imminent increase in power rates, militant research group IBON Foundation had asked President Benigno Aquino III to take steps in repealing a law that supposedly made electricity rate manipulation more rampant. In a statement posted on its website, IBON Foundation reminded Aquino that he voted against Republic Act 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), when he was still a Tarlac congressman in 2001. "Under the EPIRA, automatic monthly adjustments in electricity prices are made without the benefit of public hearings. Through pass-on charges in monthly bills, these adjustments burden not only the 4.7 million customers in the franchise area of Meralco, but also consumers and businesses throughout the country," the group said. Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed the EPIRA into law in June 2001. Its intent was to eliminate cartels and bring power rates down by promoting competition in the electricity industry. However, IBON Foundation said the law allowed for price rigging at the WESM, or the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market where electricity is traded between power generating companies and distributors like Meralco. The group likewise said that the Energy Regulatory Commission should also hold Meralco accountable for the P7 billion it supposedly overcharged its consumers in 2004 and 2007, as reported by the Commission on Audit in February this year. [See: Meralco overcharged clients in 2004, 2007 — COA report ] Militant groups had earlier protested that the law had authorized frequent rate adjustments by independent power producers and power distributors. Two weeks ago, power utility Manila Electric Co. or Meralco announced it will charge consumers P0.058 per kilowatt-hour more starting this month. —VS, GMANews.TV