Visayas Consumers May Get Lower Power Bills, Refunds Over Wrong Charges, Lawmaker Says

by Miriam Desacada

Tacloban City–Electricity consumers in the Visayas can expect lower power rates and possible refunds after the Energy Regulatory Commission ordered a halt to the wrongful collection of excessive Line Loss and Congestion Cost charges.

House Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan said Sunday that the ERC’s decision should bring relief to households hit by sudden spikes of ₱2.00 to ₱5.99 per kilowatt-hour in their bills.

“We expect to see lower power rates in the Visayas, and refunds to consumers who were overcharged because of the erroneous pass-on of excessive LLCC charges,” Libanan said.

LLCC covers two things: power lost in transmission lines, and extra costs when lines get congested. But the ERC found that the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market was computing congestion costs incorrectly, especially when the HVDC links connecting Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao hit their limits. Instead of adding congestion as a cost, the system created separate regional prices that inflated the charges.

The issue came to light after Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative asked Libanan for help. ESAMELCO said the rising LLCC had become a “significant financial burden” and estimated that consumers in Eastern Visayas alone were overcharged by about ₱1.55 billion since January 2025.

“The oppressive LLCC charges are an added burden on families already struggling with rising living costs,” Libanan said. “Consumers should not pay for a defective pricing system. If they were overcharged, they deserve their money back.”

On August 13, the ERC ordered the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines to stop collecting Line Rental charges when HVDC constraints cause price differences between regions. The ERC also told IEMOP to fix the pricing method permanently and hire an independent auditor to recalculate market settlements dating back to June 26, 2021.

The audit could lead to refunds. IEMOP must now submit a plan and schedule for returning any excess payments to consumers, which may be done over several billing cycles.