“Why did the ERC allow Meralco to increase its rates when it can’t even tell us the kind of alternative fuels that were used, its cost per unit and the quantity used during the two and a half week shutdown?”
Based on world market trends, fuel energy available to power producers now cost more than 50-percent lower. As such, the Malampaya shutdown “clearly should not result to additional costs, and thus, (there is) no basis for any power rate hike.”
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat perspective There is something ominous when the president asks Congress for emergency powers on the week that the country is about to commemorate the infamy of the Marcos dictatorship. Nothing good has come out, for the Filipino people,...
In this week's hearing, Meralco is ostensibly just following rules, and WESM rules have inability to prevent manipulation while the regulator failed to ensure rules do not prejudice Meralco costumers.
Read also: Opposition to Meralco rate hike persists despite 13-cent slash in rates
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Streetwise | BusinessWorld In opposing the steep rise in electricity rates charged by Meralco and the generation companies (GenCos) starting December 2013, we need to dig deeper into the why’s and wherefore’s of high electricity rates. The...
“This is supposed to be a basic social service to the people. But the government failed to provide it to us. Now, it is the capitalists who are benefiting.”
The unprecedented hike was revealed as mostly due to Meralco’s contract with Thermo Mobile, which had bid 25 times higher than the usual rate, or the average recorded by WESM (P62 from P6 to 8 per kilowatt-hour). It was also disclosed that Meralco actually dictates and has full control over the pricing decisions of Thermo Mobile.
Meralco rate hike, bill deposit charge denounced as 'acts of greed' (Photos by Marya Salamat / Bulatlat.com)
By MARYA SALAMAT Bulatlat.com MANILA – This month, Filipino consumers are being asked yet again to cope with increased electricity rates, spurring protests and renewed calls to scrap the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA. The law is being blamed for...
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
"This is all artificial." – Dr. Jean Lindo, Kalikasan Party, No to Coal-Davao
By MARYA SALAMAT
Small Filipino businessmen reportedly concede that it is not wage which is eating up a huge chunk of their profits, but energy costs.
By INA ALLECO SILVERIO Bulatlat.com Expect paying more for your electricity this month as the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has recently allowed Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to increase its rates yet again. Meralco said power rates for October are expected to...
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com MANILA – The Philippines has the most expensive electricity rates in Asia, a study by International Energy Consultants (IEC) showed. The Philippines is also the only country with a privatized power industry and without government...
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL and RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – One of the reasons behind the expensive electricity rates in the country is the debt acquired by the National Power Corporation (Napocor). Main Story: Epira, the culprit behind high power rates a>...
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Failed promises of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.
Sidebar: Power firms, creditors assured of billions, while consumers burdened with Napocor debt
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star June 8, 2011 marked 10 years of implementation of the controversial Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), which then President Arroyo railroaded into approval by the 11th Congress and promptly signed....
NEWS RELEASE JUNE 10, 2011 Ten years after the promised cheaper power rates through the EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act), consumers will again be jolted by another increase, this time in the generation charge. GABRIELA, a mass organization of women from...
PRESS RELEASE July 16, 2010 “PNOY: Positively Nothing On Youth interests” As thousands of youths nationwide hit the streets today for what has been dubbed a ‘National Day of Action for Education’, Anakbayan national vice-chairperson Anton Dulce summed up the 16-day...
PRESS RELEASE March 15, 2010 “LET the IPPs provide the reported power lack in Mindanao than declaring a state of emergency in Mindanao.” This is the stand of Makabayan Coalition Northern Mindanao on Friday’s pronouncement declaring the island-region under a state...
Media Release February 19, 2010 Instead of mapping out a long-term energy plan and setting up new power plants to meet growing needs, government been pre-occupied with selling off its power assets as part of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). It is now...
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