System loss is said to be behind the high cost of electricity in the country.
Undeniably, the Philippines is among the countries with the highest electricity cost. And one of the reasons that is said to be behind is the system loss.
System loss is the “the recovery of power lost due to technical and non-technical system losses”, as defined by power distribution firm, Meralco.
The decades-long problem was tackled in a Senate inquiry on Tuesday, August 16, where Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao expressed his concern on the burdens the charges put on the people. He threw questions on Department of Energy Sec. Alfonso Cusi who promptly answered him.
The neophyte senator questioned why consumers are being charged for system loss in their monthly electricity bills. The eight-division world champion senator expressed that it is unfair for the consumers for system loss.
Pacquiao asked Cusi, “Mr Secretary, this is a very important question, raise up ko ngayon. Ang tanong ko lang po, bakit n’yo china-charge sa consumers na talo n’yo na eh? That’s business. Para sa akin ‘di sya makatuwiran na i-charge sa consumers ‘yung nalo-lose na power sa transmission”.
(Mr Secretary, this is a very important question that I will raise now. My question is: Why are you charging consumers for what you’ve lost? That’s business. For me, it’s not reasonable to charge consumers for system loss.)
Cusi shared Pacquiao’s sentiment by further saying that consumers should not carry the burden for inefficiencies of power companies in delivering services. Cusi said he has already asked the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to remove the value-added tax imposed on system loss.
“There are two components of system loss – technical and administrative loss. ‘Yung technical, shineshare po ng lahat ng tao ‘yun. ‘Yung administrative, kung negligence ng service provider, ‘wag po dapat ipasa sa tao”, Cusi said.
(The technical, it’s being shared by all consumers. The administrative, if it’s due to negligence of the service provider, then it should not be passed on to the people.)
Pacquiao replied that he is hoping the DOE can act in it to alleviate public’s burden.
“I hope maaksyunan n’yo po. Isa po sa balakid sa mga consumers. Malaki binabayaran sa kuryente.” (I hope you’ll act on it. It’s one of the burdens of consumers. They pay a lot for electricity.)