PECO debunks high rate yarn

Panay Electric Co. Corporate Communications Officer Jon Mikel Lorenzo Afzelius

IN AN interview with The Daily Guardian, Panay Electric Co. (PECO) corporate communications officer Mikel Afzelius said those who rallied are not even involved in the complaints filed against the power firm.

“We know who the complainants are. So most probably those people have no relations to the ERC complaints,” Afzelius said.

Afzelius was referring to the so-called Pinoy Aksyon for Governance and Environment (Pinoy Aksyon) who trooped to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) office to protest the purported high electricity rates of PECO.

He said the company has long settled the issue on erroneous billing.

The ERC terminated the complaints of overbilling of 80 consumers during a two-day mediation conference on April 17-18, 2018 at a hotel in Iloilo City.

Around 80 percent or 80 out of the 86 consumers agreed to settle their complaints on overbilling.

Afzelius also stressed that PECO has lower distribution rates compared with other utilities in the country.

Its existing distribution charge is P1.75 per kilowatt hour (kWh). This is lower compared to the P2.98/kWh of Manila Electric Company (Meraldo) and P2.86/kWh of Cebu.

“The ERC knows that very well,” he said.

For residential rates, PECO’s charges are also lower compared to other cooperatives in Western Visayas.

As of August, its rate is at P12.09/kWh. Iloilo Electric Cooperative (ILECO II) has P12.87/kWh while Antique Electric Cooperative (ANTECO) has P12.39/kWh and Guimaras Electric Cooperative (GUIMELCO) got P12.15/kWh.

SOURCE: The Daily Guardian

Special thanks to: