Twenty-five years after the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) restructured the country’s electricity sector, government and industry players are expected to raise a toast to “market liberalization” as a success story. Whether consumers feel just as energized, however, is another...
Recent rotational brownouts in Luzon have highlighted the urgent need to modernize the country’s aging power grid, with state-run policy think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) warning that transmission bottlenecks and delayed infrastructure projects are increasingly...
Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) expressed support for initiatives aimed at improving electricity services and reducing consumer costs after progressive groups staged a protest outside its Pasig office on Tuesday, May 19, calling for lower rates and the repeal of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act...
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...
Senator Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV said on Tuesday, April 28 electricity subsidies and other mandated discounts should be funded through the national budget and not by consumers, particularly by low and middle-income households. Aquino, who has filed Senate Resolution No. 375, pointed ...
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to ensure that any increase in power rates would be implemented on a staggered basis in light of the tensions happening in the Middle East. Gatchalian said doing so would protect consumers from sudden financial distress...
Senator Rodante Marcoleta has filed a bill seeking to exempt households that consume 135 kilowatt-hours (kWh) or less of electricity each month from paying electric bills. In filing the unnumbered bill, Marcoleta sought to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to expand and improve...
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday, April 27 welcomed the 10-year extension of the corporate life of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) as this would help bring down the cost of electricity in the Philippines. “The extension of the corporate life of...
Senator Pia Cayetano led a review of the decades-old Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001 on Thursday, Oct. 17 I a bid to strengthen the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). Senator Pia Cayetano (Senate PRIB) She says this is in response to the pressing need to review and update...
The bargaining chip dangled by the Department of Energy (DOE) on the proposed corporate life extension for state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) is to prevent transfer of P300 billion worth of its residual debts to the national government coffers. “At this...
SAGIP Party-list Reps. Rodante Marcoleta (left), Caroline Tanchay (Facebook) SAGIP Party-list Reps. Rodante Marcoleta and Caroline Tanchay are prodding the House of Representatives to take up their proposed measure to tighten the prohibition on...
TORONTO – The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is enthusiastically poring over the structural changes implemented by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), primarily on regulation frames that are also viable for enforcement in the Philippine power sector. Following a meeting with Ontario Energy Board...