The penalties being collected by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has been proposed to be re-channeled as compensation to consumers who are casualties of blackout incidents, similar to the four-day power failure which plunged Western Visayas into a state of economic vulnerability and frustration.

In a Congressional hearing, ERC Chairperson Monalisa C. Dimalanta sounded off that instead of having the penalties remitted to the National Treasury, it could be a prudent move to redirect these instead as discount rates or refund in the electric bills of consumers distressed by electricity service interruptions.

The chief regulator stipulated that such shift in the collected ERC penalties could be integrated as amendment to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) or Republic Act 9136, which is under deliberations in Congress.

According to Dimalanta, “one of the recommendations that we made for the EPIRA amendment is to allow ERC the authority to order the application of penalties for return - either in the form of refund or discounts -- to the consumers that suffer the inconvenience or the violation that resulted in the interruption of service.”

As prescribed under the power industry reform law, the regulatory body can impose penalties ranging from P50,000 to a maximum of P50 million for violations committed by industry players – and once these are collected, they are being turned over to the national coffers.

But given the financial torment that blackout-affected consumers would typically endure, there is a rising clamor for direct compensation – especially for distressed businesses and other end-users who are left with no choice but to live through the peril and trauma of millions to billions worth of foregone revenues.

“Right now, we don’t have the authority. But if there is an amendment in the law, then we can have that authority to make the application,” Dimalanta stressed.

The ERC recommendation echoes an earlier pronouncement from the Department of Energy (DOE) which stated that it will be supporting EPIRA amendments “that will seek criminal liability for power company officials deemed responsible for failing to prevent blackouts.”

Following the Panay Island blackouts which ushered in the power industry into the new year, the ERC emphasized that it “immediately launched its own investigation into the incident which led to the region’s economic losses in billions of pesos.”

The power industry regulator added it “promptly instituted a proactive approach by mandating hourly updates from the grid operator (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines) instead of the previous four-hour intervals.”

To establish accountability in the recent episode of paralyzing power interruptions in one core of the Visayas grid, the ERC indicated it is “completing the study on the reconstitution of the composition of the Grid Management Committee (GMC) while assessing the most efficient legal framework for this reconstitution.”

Fundamentally, the GMC is in charge of monitoring the implementation of the Grid Code – or the industry’s bible that guides the grid and system operator when it comes to the operational standards and protocols that it will need to adhere to in running the country’s electricity systems.

The GMC, in particular, can recommend standards as well as procedures and requirements for the connection, operation, maintenance and overall development nuances of the power grid infrastructure of the Philippines.