Prepaid metering system seen to bring down power rates

Posted on 09 Nov 2011 at 1:13pm

More than a million member-consumers of electric cooperatives that are registered with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) will soon enjoy lower electricity rates with the implementation of the country’s first-ever prepaid metering program next year.

The CDA-registered electric coops, represented by Rep. Ponciano Payuyo (3rd from left in photo) of the Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC), foresee at least a 50 centavo-per kilowatt hour drop in their current electric bills or about P50 per 100 kilowatt hours and P250 per 500 kwh for household consumers and P1,000 for commercial and industrial consumers of 2,000 kwh per month.

Payuyo and IT expert Dante Mara (right) yesterday met with Land Bank president and CEO Gilda Pico (2nd from left) and LBP Executive Vice President Willie Maldia (left) to discuss how Land Bank can provide funding assistance to the sector to bring down high power rates.

Under the prepaid metering scheme which is similar to the prepaid cellphone system, electric consumers will buy prepaid cards from their electric cooperatives and load the card values into the electric meter in order to turn on the supply of electricity for the number of hours they intend to use it.

Payuyo said household members who leave the house in the morning for school or office may choose not to load their prepaid cards when nobody is at home and load the prepaid card only upon their arrival from school, office or elsewhere.

“This will reduce system losses as it will prevent the pilferage of electricity, reduce electricity consumption, develop a culture of thrift and result in monthly savings from the lower electricity rates,” Payuyo explained.

He said it will also keep household members alert and vigilant against illegal electricity connections by neighbors because their prepaid cards are only good and limited for their households’ consumption.

Aside from these, Payuyo said the shift to prepaid metering will reduce the accounting and collection costs of the electric cooperatives since there would be no need for meter readers, collectors and accounting personnel. This cost reduction also translates to savings for the electric cooperatives which would be passed on to their member-consumers every month.

Payuyo said the prepaid metering scheme will be pilot-tested next year in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan through the Palawan Electric Cooperative (Paleco) where he served as General Manager for 16 years.

He said the savings to be generated from the prepaid metering system could also be used to fund other programs for Paleco members, such as a bulk-buying system for petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel and kerosene or the bulk-buying of food and non-food items, including groceries, with big discounts.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Pico said Land Bank supports the effort to bring down the regime of high electricity rates especially among cooperative members who constitiute Land Bank’s primary beneficiary base. Pico designated Maldia as LBP’s lead person for the program.

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