Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 5) — Consumers can expect a rebate in their electricity bills soon, after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered a refund from power firms.
The regulator told private power distribution companies to return amounts referring to their unused Regulatory Reset Cost, plus interest, to customers immediately.
The refund ranges from ₱0.04 to ₱0.08 per kilowatt hour (kWh), and will be reflected in the July billing period. Customers of the Manila Electric Company, the country’s biggest power distributor, will receive a rebate of at least ₱0.0731 per kWh.
The Regulatory Reset Cost covers the expenses incurred whenever experts or consultants are tapped in setting and updating the electricity rates charged by power firms to its customers.
“The Commission is of the view that the cost of regulation should be at the expense of the government and should not be a burden to the electricity consumers,” ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera said in a statement on Friday.
The ERC ordered the refund after seeing that the amounts collected from consumers for regulatory reset have not been used, given that the cost has already been covered by the national budget.
Power firms are required to submit a report to the ERC about their compliance with the refund.
