Senator Imee Marcos is urging the swift amendment of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to curb what she described as excessive charges imposed by Manila Electric Company on consumers already burdened by rising fuel and food costs linked to tensions in the Middle East.

Marcos, who's part of the Senate PROTECT Committee, joined fellow legislators in questioning the power distributor over increased electricity bills recorded in the past two months.

Marcos said amending EPIRA would help eliminate unjust pass-on charges and address what she called the “compounded calculation” of system loss fees.

She also urged the Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy to launch parallel investigations into Meralco’s billing practices.

"This isn't just about following the law; it's a matter of compassion for the people. In the middle of a crisis, it should be the big companies adjusting, not the consumers who are being bled dry by the high cost of electricity," Marcos said.

The senator noted that Meralco’s generation charges are already higher than those of other distribution utilities, and claimed that additional ancillary charges—based on what she described as “magical computations”—further drive up consumer bills.

According to Marcos, this setup effectively leads to “double-charging.” She explained that when fuel prices increase or the peso weakens, electricity rates go up, while system loss charges also rise automatically—even if actual losses in transmission lines remain unchanged.

"It’s like you’re playing with the computation just to make the bills heavier. The cost of electricity goes up once, but you charge us two or three times across different line items," the senator asserted.

Marcos also raised concerns about standby power charges, saying consumers are billed for capacity that has not been used.

“And what hurts is that even this standby power is still slapped with a system loss charge. This is overwhelming for families who are already struggling," Marcos explained.

She further questioned the practice of passing on subsidy-related costs, such as lifeline rates and senior citizen discounts, to other consumers instead of being absorbed by the utility company.

“Meralco is the biggest utility (firm). Can’t Meralco just absorb that (referring to lifeline and senior discounts) instead of passing it on to other consumers? Why do the small people have to carry the burden for all these discounts?” Marcos said.

Marcos also disputed Meralco’s explanation that increased summer demand drove higher bills, pointing out that electricity consumption declined from 2.711 billion kWh in February to 2.644 billion kWh in April.

She likewise criticized the imposition of value-added tax (VAT) on multiple components of the electricity bill—including system loss and transmission charges—saying it further inflates the total cost to consumers.