AN OFFICIAL at Visayan Electric Company said it is too early to determine how President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s proposal to remove system loss charges from electricity bills would affect power distributors because Congress has yet to amend Republic Act (RA) 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).
Visayan Electric president and general manager Mark Anthony Kindica said the proposal remains at the policy stage.
“At this point, it’s still speculative because we don’t yet know what amendments will be made to Epira or what policies will eventually be adopted,” Kindica said during a media forum Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
He said the utility will continue coordinating with the Department of Energy, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and other industry stakeholders to ensure any policy changes do not compromise service reliability.
“We stand behind the President’s call for transparency and ensuring consumers are not unduly burdened, but we also have to make sure the same level of reliability and availability of electricity is maintained,” he said.
Amending Epira
Marcos, in his fifth Sona on July 27, urged Congress to amend Epira to prohibit power distributors from passing system loss charges and the corresponding value-added tax to consumers.
Kindica said system loss charges cover both technical and non-technical losses incurred while delivering electricity. Technical losses occur naturally as electricity passes through power lines and transformers, while non-technical losses are mainly caused by electricity theft through illegal connections and meter tampering.
“We’ve been aggressively fighting against theft because we don’t want our consumers to shoulder losses caused by illegal activities,” Kindica said.
He said both residential and commercial consumers have been caught stealing electricity. Visayan Electric computes illegally consumed power and issues back-billing based on historical consumption records.
The official added that power theft cases have declined because of continued enforcement, while elevated meter centers have been installed in areas prone to illegal connections.
Kindica also encouraged the public to report suspected power theft through the company’s official channels, saying reports are handled confidentially.
The utility also reminded consumers that ERC rules require refunds whenever electricity charges are over-recovered.
Power rates
On electricity prices, Kindica said rates could begin stabilizing by the third or fourth quarter despite an expected increase in Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices this month.
Visayan Electric’s residential rate is about P14.90 per kilowatt-hour, up from about P11 to P12 at the start of the year. He said August rates may still reflect higher WESM prices, although the ERC previously allowed the utility to defer part of its market costs to soften the impact on consumers. Recent yellow alerts in the Visayas grid have also pushed prices higher because of thin operating reserves.
To help reduce the risk of power interruptions during tight supply, Visayan Electric activates its Interruptible Load Program, under which more than 30 commercial and industrial customers switch to standby generators, reducing grid demand by 10 to 20 megawatts.
Kindica also urged consumers to conserve electricity by unplugging appliances when they are not in use. / CAV