Hontiveros: P19.9 B refund by Meralco welcome, but "only a small tranche" of P100-B owed to consumers

PHILIPPINES, March 17 - Press Release
March 17, 2025

Hontiveros: P19.9 B refund by Meralco welcome, but "only a small tranche" of P100-B owed to consumers

Senator Risa Hontiveros today welcomed the P19.9 billion refund to consumers ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), but maintained that the amount is "only a small tranche" compared to the estimated P100 billion owed to consumers by the country's largest power utility.

"Magandang balita ang refund para sa mga kababayan natin na iniinda ang mataas na singil ng kuryente ngayong summer season. Pero sa totoo lang, katiting lang iyan kumpara sa tinatayang P100 billion na sobrang kinolekta at dapat ibalik ng Meralco sa taumbayan," Hontiveros said.

The ERC-ordered refund of P19.9 billion, to be paid across three years, covers charges billed by Meralco in excess of allowable costs to consumers from July 2022 to December 2024. However, Hontiveros said that Meralco's accountabilities to its consumers from 2011 to 2022 have already reached around P100 billion, citing estimates by power industry experts.

"While we appreciate the latest refund, it is clearly an inadequate and temporary relief for consumers, who are being overcharged again and again for their power needs. Dapat na nating itama ang mismong sistema, para agarang maibalik sa taumbayan ang sobrang binayad nila sa Meralco, at maiwasan na ang over collections simula't sapul," Hontiveros added.

Hontiveros, who is calling for a Senate investigation into Meralco's overcollections, said that various factors have allowed Meralco to overcharge consumers for many years, such as the lack of an effective, fair, and transparent rate reset process by the ERC throughout various lapsed regulatory periods.

The ERC, the senator pointed out, has "miserably failed" in implementing performance-based regulation or PBR, the internationally accepted rate-setting methodology, in relation to the reset of Meralco's rates. This, Hontiveros said, has allowed the utility giant to "use grossly unreasonable interim rates for nearly ten years."

"Alarmingly, Meralco consumers have not had the benefit of reasonable and just electricity rates since 2011. Rates have not been based on Meralco's actual costs and performance, but on unfair "interim" rates. Kaya tuloy, lagpas sampung taon nang sobrang nangongolekta ang Meralco sa bawat consumer," Hontiveros said.

"Dapat nang matigil itong hindi patas at mapang-abusong kalakaran ng Meralco. The latest refund should only be the start of a long process of returning every centavo unjustly taken by Meralco for years, while ERC slept on the job," Hontiveros concluded.