Manila: Senator Francis Pangilinan has introduced a bill in the Senate aimed at removing system loss charges from household electricity bills, a step he claims could reduce consumers' total electricity costs by approximately 5 percent to 10 percent. "Hindi dapat consumer ang sumasalo (Consumers must not bear the burden)," Pangilinan emphasized in a statement released on Wednesday.
According to Philippines News Agency, Senate Bill 2378, also known as the proposed Systems Loss Charge Removal Act, was filed on August 5. This legislation seeks to ensure that households are not unjustly charged for electricity losses they did not cause or consume. The system loss charge currently permits distribution utilities to recover the cost of electricity lost between the amount delivered to their networks and the amount ultimately measured and billed to end-users.
The proposed bill aims to amend Section 25 of Republic Act 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA). Senator Pangilinan pointed out that Filipino families, already burdened by rising costs of essential goods and services, could benefit significantly from any reduction in their electricity bills. He argued that consumers should not be held accountable for system losses since they neither caused nor consumed the electricity that was lost in the distribution process.
Pangilinan further highlighted that system loss charges diminish already limited household incomes, noting that savings of even a few hundred pesos could be redirected towards necessities such as food, rent, medical expenses, and education. This proposal is part of a broader initiative in Congress to reduce electricity costs.
In his recent State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. advocated for amendments to the EPIRA law to eliminate system loss charges passed on to consumers, including the value-added tax (VAT) imposed on such charges. In addition to Pangilinan, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian and Senator JV Ejercito have introduced complementary measures aimed at removing system loss charges and VAT from electricity bills.
Pangilinan had previously filed Senate Bill 2124, or the proposed VAT Exemption on Systems Loss Act for Residential Household Consumers, which aims to alleviate the financial burden on households that continue to pay for system losses they did not consume, cause, or control.
