PH gov't urged to penalize erring energy firms over high rates, power outages

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian has called on the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to penalize erring energy players amid power outages and high electricity rates.

Gatchalian said regulators must hold erring stakeholders in the energy sector accountable to deter unwarranted increases in electricity prices.

"Bukod sa brownout alerts, napakataas pa ng presyo ng kuryente sa Visayas at Mindanao. Hindi natin pwedeng palampasin ito, kailangan ng DOE ng kongkretong solusyon (On top of the rotating brownout alerts, electricity prices in the Visayas and Mindanao are also extremely high. We cannot let this go unchecked, the DOE needs to come up with concrete solutions)," Gatchalian said in a statement Tuesday.

He stressed that regulatory authorities must step in decisively to protect consumers from systemic inefficiencies and market exploitation.

The DOE, Gatchalian added, should also regularly audit fuel pass-through charges to ensure energy companies do not take advantage of volatility in global oil prices.

"Kung hindi nagpe-perform o nag-aabuso ang mga power generation players, kailangang patawan ng mabigat na penalty. Ang DOE bilang policymaker at ang ERC bilang regulator ay kailangang magtulungan (If power generation players fail to perform or engage in abuses, they must face heavy penalties. The DOE, as the policymaker, and the ERC, as the regulator, must work together)," he said.

The Senate leader also proposed amending the Oil Deregulation Law, citing power interruptions in the Visayas and Mindanao amid persistently high electricity rates.

The Oil Deregulation Law, or Republic Act 8479, was enacted in 1998 to liberalize the downstream oil industry by removing government controls over the pricing and distribution of petroleum products.

The law allows oil companies to set prices based on market forces, while the government retains regulatory oversight to promote fair competition and protect consumers.