Greenpeace on Meralco staggered rate hike: Don’t pass your burden onto consumers

QUEZON CITY, Philippines (05 July 2022) — The Supreme Court yesterday affirmed the 2013 order of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approving Meralco’s P22.64-billion staggered power rate hike. According to Meralco, the hike was prompted by the Malampaya plant shutdown and maintenance of other power generation plants.

Reacting to this, Greenpeace campaigner Khevin Yu said:

“The latest development further exposes the consequences of Meralco and other energy corporations’ dependence on fossil fuels, which has always been incapable of meeting the country’s energy demands. However, they must break the unjust practice of passing the burden of these consequences on to consumers, who are already suffering from the increasing weight of oil price hikes and food shortages.

Meralco earned a net income of P24.6 billion last year — there is no excuse for them to put higher generation costs on consumers’ tabs. Further, Greenpeace’s 2021 Decarbonizing Meralco report[1] found that 97 percent of Meralco’s energy mix consists of fossil fuels, which we know are not only inflexible energy sources, but are also contributing significantly to the worsening climate crisis.

Thus, Meralco, as the largest energy corporation in the country, has the prime opportunity to take the lead in ushering in renewable energy (RE). Our 2021 report also found that it is within its means to make that shift within the decade, with additional storage capacity and improvements in the distribution system. Such a shift will decrease their generation costs, from which both Meralco and its consumers stand to gain.[1]

Meanwhile, our continued dependence on fossil fuels means we are subject to price volatilities we cannot control, and to finite fuel sources — such as the Malampaya gas field — which will betray us when supplies run out. At this point, RE is undoubtedly the cleaner, more reliable, and more cost-efficient way to generate power in the Philippines. Only in shifting to RE can Meralco truly show Filipinos that they have our best interests in mind.”

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Note to Editors

[1] Decarbonizing Meralco (2021). Greenpeace Philippines.