The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) should direct its distribution utilities (DUs) to suspend all disconnection activities within its franchise area that are placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Thursday.
Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, said DUs should follow the move taken by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which has decided to suspend its disconnection activities in Metro Manila and Laguna which are both placed under strict lockdowns due to humanitarian considerations.
Meralco extended its “no disconnection” policy to at least three provinces—Cavite, Rizal, Lucena in Quezon province—which are all under MECQ.
“We don’t want a repeat of last year’s ‘bill schock.’ We’ve had enough of this in the past and both the consumers and the DUs should have learned from what happened,” Gatchalian said.
The senator also said local government units (LGUs) should allow the continued conduct of onsite meter readings to ensure the accuracy of consumers’ electric bills. Meralco has announced it will continue meter reading and bill delivery activities even under ECQ.
“If consumers will be billed appropriately, then they would not have any reason why they should not settle their obligation on a later date,” he said.
He also noted that the National Task Force against COVID-19 has just included Iloilo City and Cagayn de Oro City in the list of areas under ECQ, while a number of key provinces are also subjected to heightened restrictions until the end of the month due to the rising number of the Delta variant cases of COVID-19.
The Department of Health (DOH) has also said the government is mulling extending ECQ in the National Capital Region (NCR) amid the rising number of COVID-19 positive patients.
“Many of our people are facing financial difficulty at this time. Any amount of savings would be very important for them, especially at this time when more workers are bound to lose their jobs and livelihood under an ECQ,” he said.
“We were able to impose a ‘no disconnection policy’ last year and even extended it until January of this year. It was a relief to all consumers. So I hope distribution utilities will agree to it for the second time in consideration of our people’s needs,” the lawmaker stressed.