Meralco replies.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Bambi L. Harper

IN REPLY To my article, "Thanks, but no thanks" (PDI, 6/24/03), here is our star utility company's answer. The over-all title of the 15 items with odd names like "Missionary" is "unbundled rates." It was approved May 30, 2003 by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), that delightful government agency that apparently always says "yes," at the end. (What do we know of the ERC and what perks do they have? Meaning, who pays their electric bill? I, for one, wouldn't care much about any of my utility bills if some office paid for them.)

To be fair, the approval by the ERC took three years and 55 public hearings participated in by 18 organizations and interested parties and resulted in Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001. Not that it did us any good. The "unbundling" or itemization complies with Section 36. And yes Meralco is the power distribution company; the rest are government and power suppliers or power generating firms.

Prior to this "unbundling," we only saw three items of Meralco's bill: Basic Charge, Cera and PPA. What your bill will show is what goes to Meralco and what Meralco collects "on behalf of suppliers, generators of electricity and the transmission company." Meralco collects the Distribution Charge, Metering Charge, Supply Charge and Currency Exchange Rate Adjustment.

The distribution charge is understandable. The supply charge refers to "rendering service to customers," i.e. billing, collecting, customer assistance (the office that's always busy when you dial their number especially if there's a typhoon and a brown-out), and associated services, whatever those are. Why it's necessary to place your office and janitorial staff under a different heading isn't clear. Like if you went to the parlor or the barber shop you don't get a separate bill for water and electricity and the interest the owner is paying the bank.

As for the currency exchange rate adjustment, I don't understand why there has to be an adjustment since we pay our bill in pesos and not in dollars. If, on the other hand, it refers to the company's repayment of foreign loans, someone smarter would have to explain to me why we as consumers are involved in that.