Dagooc: Delayed regulatory approvals cause high electricity bill, unfair to blame it on NGCP

A lawmaker asserted that delayed regulatory approvals are causing the high electricity prices being experienced by consumers, emphasizing that it is unfair to blame NGCP for it.

APEC Partylist Rep. Sergio Dagooc said charges collected by NGCP constitute a small portion of the electric bill, and focusing on the transmission grid operator will not address the issue of high electricity prices.

Generation and distribution costs account for 55 and 20 percent, respectively, while NGCP accounts for just 3 percent of the consumers’ electric bill.

“Ano ba immediate na pwede natin gawin na pwede ibaba? I don’t totally agree na tututukan natin si NGCP, bababa na agad iyong bill natin, kasi napakaliit nung kontribusyon ng transmission doon sa kabuuang binabayaran natin,” Dagooc said during the hearing of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises.

Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Sharon Garin acknowledged that some delays are due to projects still awaiting approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Dagooc also questioned DOE for relying on the Transmission Development Plan (TDP) as a basis for identifying delays.

“If that’s the case sa pag-review, e papalpak talaga,” Dagooc said.

Philreca Party-List Rep. Presley De Jesus, for his part, welcomed Garin’s admission, saying it is unfair to place all the blame on NGCP for the project delays.

“In short, hindi lang ito solely fault ng NGCP, just to make it clear. Ang masama rito, we’re not trying to defend NGCP. We’re trying to level the playing field. Kasi ang dating, kasalanan ng NGCP kung bakit maraming delays,” De Jesus said.