Draft Rules on Redistribution of Electricity set for public consultation
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) announces the holding of a public consultation on the proposed Rules on Redistribution of Electricity on April 21, 2006, 2:00 P.M. at the Main Office, ERC Hearing Room, 15th Floor, Pacific Center Bldg., San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. The draft Rules will govern the redistribution of electricity to unit owners or lessees by a redistributor, such as building or condominium administrator or an apartment owner. Buildings or apartments, including condominiums, where the approved electrical designs allow installation of a billing meter to each of the tenants or lessees, are not covered by the said Rules.
The proposed Rules prohibits electricity redistributors from making profit from such redistribution. “The old practice has brought a lot of complaints from among building or apartment occupants which necessitates the ERC to come up with a policy that will regulate the charges being collected by these redistributors,“ ERC Chairman Rodolfo B. Albano, Jr. clarified.
A redistributor is an end-user singly connected and contractually–bound to a DU. The billing meter or ‘mother meter’ which the DU provides to a redistributor, registers the total energy consumption of the establishment. As such, a sub-meter bearing an ERC seal, shall be installed to individual unit owner or lessee to monitor each actual consumption. Every occupant is entitled to the applicable provisions of the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers and of the Distribution Services and Open Access Rules (DSOAR).
“The ERC will always exert its best effort to protect the interests of the stakeholders in the electricity industry,” Chairman Albano concluded.
Copies
of the draft Rules can be obtained at the ERC Main Office or from our
website at www.erc.gov.ph. Interested parties may submit their comments
(hard and soft copies) on or before March 31, 2006. Send your comments
to the address abovementioned, or fax to the Consumer Affairs Service
at (02) 687-55-77 or e-mail it at consumer@erc.gov.ph or mcgines@erc.gov.ph.
Only parties who have filed their comments on the prescribed date are
considered parties-of-record.
