TULFO CLAIMS ‘SYSTEM LOSS’ REMOVAL POSSIBLE BY YEAR END
In response to the call of President BBM during SONA
SENATOR Erwin Tulfo believes President Marcos Jr.’s call for Congress to immediately work on the amendment of RA 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Act (EPIRA) of 2001 to unburden consumers from paying the ‘system loss’ from the transmission and distribution of electricity can be accomplished by the end of the year, or in time for the Christmas season.
A leading member of the Senate Majority and now the chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Tulfo said he shares the President’s sentiment why consumers are being made to carry the burden of paying for the system loss due to the inefficiency and outmoded state of the country’s electricity grid that are now mostly in private hands.
“Where is the concept of social responsibility in all of these?
“The community is drowning in debt and poverty while they (private companies) gain billions in profit by squeezing the consumers dry,” Tulfo said in a radio interview over the weekend.
“These distributors and generation companies have social responsibilities too. Try to cooperate. Don’t just keep taking—give back a little, too,” Tulfo further stated.
Removing the system loss pass on charges to consumers—and the value added tax on it that consumers also pay– is among the reforms that President Marcos called on the 20th Congress to prioritize during his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 27.
“Hindi naman kasalanan ng consumer kung bakit nagkaroon ng system loss. Kaya hindi naman tama na kailangan sila pa ang pagbabayarin dito,” the President said that received much applause from the gallery in Congress.
The “system loss” is the difference between the generated electricity, measured in kilowatt hour that distributors purportedly delivered to consumers and the electricity that actually reached them.
Aside from pilferage (theft), system loss can also occur as dissipated heat due to transmission distance and the outmoded and inefficient state of the country’s transmission and distribution systems.
Tulfo further noted that both the majority and minority blocs in the Upper Chamber are in agreement with the President on the issue while the House of Representatives is already working on the measure.
As chair of the Committee on Energy, Tulfo said he plans to conduct a weekly hearing or every Friday, until a final bill has been drafted.
“Every week po i-hearing natin ito hangga’t hindi po namin matapos ito at hopefully, TWG within the month po ito and then magkakaroon kami ng bicam.
“So hopefully by September dapat na sa table na po ito ng Palasyo (President Marcos),” Tulfo said.
He added the “objective” is for consumers to no longer pay the system loss by “Christmas o before Christmas.”
Tulfo added they are studying the possibility of strengthening the regulatory power of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to prevent electricity companies from renaming system loss so they can continue to profit from it.
On his election to the Senate in 2025, Tulfo immediately filed Senate Resolution 537 to investigate the policy of passing system loss charges onto consumers.
Aside from this, Tulfo also filed Senate Bill 2239 for the repeal of the Batas Pambansa 36 (Energy Tax Law) and Senate Bill 2340 to exempt system loss charges from the collection of the Value Added Tax (VAT).
Comments are closed.