Consumer groups stormed the office of San Miguel Corp. on its foundation day to call on the Asian corporate giant to stop making moves that causes a heavier burden to Filipinos.
The Power for People Coalition which is a broad alliance of civic organizations trooped to the headquarters of SMC, one of the country’s oldest and biggest conglomerates and the biggest proponent of expanding the use of liquefied natural gas in the local energy sector, to meet the 132nd anniversary of the company with a protest.
P4P is blaming the conglomerate’s energy arm SMC Global Power for the high electricity rates and an impending petition to further increase monthly bills.
SMC has a pending petition for price adjustment with the Energy Regulatory Commission that will raise electricity rates by P4.80 per kilowatt-hour due to rising fuel prices.
The plea is being opposed since the civic groups said the PSAs which use the straight pricing method do not allow adjustments except for escalation costs that the SMC subsidiary had availed of.
Protect consumers
Oppositors to the ERC applications said SMC Global Power can’t recover its losses from consumers after choosing gas as the source of the electricity it supplies to Meralco.
“Despite what it claims as unexpected increases in the price of natural gas, it is still pushing for more gas projects with a capacity of 12.3 gigawatts from eight power plants in addition to the 1.8-gigawatt plant already under construction,” according to P4P Convenor Gerry Arances.
“Happy 132nd anniversary to SMC! I hope they enjoy the tears of their consumers who have to pay for their decision to invest in fossil fuels like coal and gas, despite the proven affordability and reliability of renewable energy, which does not have to be imported,” Arances added.
“It seems that SMC is the only one happy on its anniversary. If your goal is to make Filipinos desperate, you’re certainly succeeding,” Arances added.
Bearing a jack-in-the-box with a message saying “Mahal na Kuryente ng San Miguel, Pasakit sa Konsyumer,” (The high cost of San Miguel electricity is a burden to consumers) protesters highlighted the threat of SMC Global Power to stop supplying electricity if its bid to escape from its commitment under PSAs using the “straight price” method is not allowed by ERC.
“SMC is relentless in its quest to squeeze more profits from its consumers, who already face rising prices in basic commodities. I don’t think they’d even care if Filipinos can no longer afford to buy their beers due to their electric bills,” Arances said.
P4P urged the putting up of more renewable energy projects to solve the power shortfall.
It pushed for 100 percent renewable energy to help meet the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement to respond to the climate emergency.
The cause-oriented group also found that SMC PSAs which have been outlawed by the Supreme Court in 2019 continue to supply power to various distribution utilities in the country.
“Renewable energy is affordable to consumers and friendly to the environment,” according to Arances.
He said, nonetheless, SMC prefers bigger profit, “even at the cost of more violent typhoons, damage to marine habitats, and consumers made bankrupt by high electricity bills.”