Senator Win Gatchalian has formally requested the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to implement a staggered payment scheme for electricity bills, aiming to shield consumers from an impending “bill shock” as global energy costs surge.
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate’s Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy (PROTECT) Committee, made the proposal during a hearing on Wednesday, April 29, regarding the government’s contingency plans for the ongoing Middle East conflict.
The senator warned that rising generation charges, coupled with increasing prices for fuel and rice, could cripple the finances of the poorest Filipino households.
“What we want to happen, and this was also the recommendation of the Protect Committee, is to have a staggered increase,” Gatchalian stated in Filipino.
He cautioned against a “triple whammy” where the public is hit simultaneously by synchronized price hikes across essential sectors.
“Our call to the ERC is not to synchronize the increase in electricity (charges) with the increase in petrol, the increase in rice (prices). I saw that the cost of rice also increased, bit by bit. So our consumers, especially our poorest countrymen, are in for a triple whammy,” he explained.
Gatchalian noted that the mechanism is not unprecedented, citing the ERC’s decision during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow consumers to settle their bills in installments after quarantine restrictions prevented actual meter readings and led to massive, accumulated charges.
The senator also questioned the ERC’s current “one peso” trigger for reviewing rate adjustments, arguing that in the current economic climate, even smaller increases can be devastating for commuters and workers.
“I think, for each increase, especially at this time, we should implement a staggered increase because our consumers really can’t afford it. Because, our consumers, they are also our riders. They are also our commuters,” he added.
In response, ERC Chairperson and CEO Francis Saturnino Juan committed to revisiting the agency’s existing guidelines to provide immediate relief.
“We will revisit our advisory and look into the possibility of lowering the trigger for the mandatory reporting by distribution utilities of their generation charge calculation and also the staggering mandate for them,” Juan said.
The ERC chief added that the review would also explore mandates for generation companies to accept partial payments from distribution utilities to maintain the financial stability of the entire power supply chain.