Sen. Erwin Tulfo said he hopes a measure removing system loss charges from electricity bills will reach President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s desk by the first week of September.
Tulfo, who chairs the Senate Committee on Energy, said eight bills have been filed in the Senate and at least two in the House of Representatives following the President’s call during his State of the Nation Address last week to remove system loss charges from consumers’ monthly bills as soon as possible.
“Si House Speaker at si Majority Floor Leader nag-file doon at marami silang mga nag-file din after the SONA. So, gumugulong na ngayon sa atin. Ang gusto ng Malacanang ay isang hearing pa and then dadalhin na sa TWG. So, mabilis ito. Ganon din yata ang plano sa House. So, baka hopefully by around, pinaka-latest na siguro first week ng September eh nasa table na ng Pangulo
(The House Speaker and the Majority Floor Leader filed the bills and many lawmakers also filed similar bills after the SONA. So, it is now being tackled in the Senate. Malacanang wants one more hearing and then the bills will be referred to the TWG [technical working group]. So, this will be fast. I think the House also has the same plan. So, maybe, hopefully, at the latest, around the first week of September it will be at the President’s table),” Tulfo said in an interview with radio dzBB on Sunday.
In a separate dzBB interview, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said the proposal could become law within three to six months.
“Meron nang meeting of the minds na aprubahan ito. So tingin ko kaya ito within three to six months (There is a meeting of the minds (between Malacanang, the Senate and the House) to approve it. So, I think it will be done in three to six months),” he said.
Gatchalian said the most contentious issue would be determining how system losses should be computed and absorbed by distribution utilities without allowing the charges to be passed on to consumers under other billing items.
“Ang pinakamalaking issue dito ay yung computation ng systems loss kasi kagaya ng sinabi ko na dati, consumer ang sumasalo nito, ngayon ipapasok na sa distribution utility. Paano ngayon maglalabas ng regulation na distribution (utilities) ang sasalo nating systems loss at siguraduhing hindi ipapasa sa consumers sa ibang item. Ngayon kasi naka unbundle yan, makikita mo sa bill natin may system loss. Baka naman kapag pinagbawalan natin ay itatago naman sa ibang item
(The biggest issue here is the computation of systems loss because like what I said, consumers are shouldering it, but now this will be shouldered by distribution utilities. We must come up with a regulation that distribution utilizes must shoulder systems loss and make sure that it will not be hidden in some other items on our electricity bills. Right now, our electricity bills are unbundled and we can see that there is systems loss. These distribution utilities might hide systems loss in some other items when we bar them from charging it to consumers),” he added.
Tulfo said another hearing is scheduled for Friday, with discussions initially focusing on the removal of system loss charges from monthly electricity bills.
“Systems loss lang muna ang pinag-uusapan natin. Bagama’t may mag resistance sa mga distributor, malulugi raw sila. Eh paano naman, ikan ga, yung consumer, sinisingil mo sa amin. Parang sinisingil mo sa amin yung, ika nga, nawawala sa iyo, bakit kami ang magbabayad. So, nagkakaintindihan naman kami sa Senado, I believe pati sa Kongreso na napapanahon na, kasi for the past 20 years, naabuso yung mga kababayan natin. Bayad tayo nang bayad na hindi natin alam
(We will only tackle system loss for now. There is resistance from distributors who said that they will lose a lot. But, the consumers are saying why charge us for something which we did not use. So, the Senate and the House are one because we believe it’s time to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act because our people have been abused for the past 20 years. We pay for something that we don’t know),” Tulfo said.
He said the committee would hold weekly hearings until the proposal is completed and referred to a technical working group, followed by a bicameral conference committee.
“Every week ihi-hearing natin ito hangga’t hindi po namin matapos ito at hopefully, TWG within the month po ito, and then magkakaroon kami ng bicam. So. Hopefully by September dapat nasa table na po ito ng Pangulo
(We will have a hearing every week until we finish it. Hopefully, it will be forwarded to the TWG within the month and then we will have a bicameral conference committee. So, hopefully by September this should be on the President’s table),” he added.
Tulfo said consumers could stop paying system loss charges by December this year if the measure is enacted. Gatchalian agreed, saying the reform could reduce electricity bills by between 5 percent and 10 percent depending on the area.
“So, matitipid natin diyan sa electricity bill natin between 5 percent all the way to 10 percent, depending kung nasaan ka. Kung nasa probinsiya kasi malaki ang systems loss. Umaabot yan ng mga 12 percent pa nga,”
(So, we can save as much as 5 percent to 10 percent on our electricity bills, depending which area you are. In the province, system loss is much bigger. It can reach as high as 12 percent),” Gatchalian said.
Asked whether lawmakers would give in to lobbyists opposing the proposal, Gatchalian said: “Pinaka-mabigat na lobby ay lobby ng consumers eh. (The strongest lobbying comes from the people.”
Tulfo said several individuals had called him to urge him to reconsider the removal of system loss charges, but he told them to raise their concerns with the Palace.
He also warned that he would expose those individuals if they continued opposing the removal of system loss charges from consumers’ electricity bills.