MERALCO EYES POWER CABLES UNDERGROUND

Underground power cables are being eyed by Meralco to address the issue of 'spaghetti wires' in urbanized areas (Photo courtesy of ABS-CBN News)

The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is planning to bring down and put its power cables underground in the next five years to avoid worsening urban blight in its franchise area, said Meralco Chief Operating Officer Ronnie Aperocho.

“Our 5-year budget includes capex for bringing out lines from overhead to underground. This is meant not just to address the issue of 'spaghetti wires' but also for storm hardening and storm resiliency,” said Aperocho.

However, this plan needs the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission as it said to entails a huge capital outlay which is recoverable from consumers. ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta meanwhile said big-ticket items like this need to be studied if they are reasonable.

During a Senate hearing, the issue of charging consumers with a portion of the system loss--particularly electricity stolen by consumers using jumpers was also brought up.

Aperocho revealed that the utilities company had already apprehended 600,000 service violators from 2005 to September 2024. “Here, 8,300 tons or 276,000 kilometers of illegal wires have already been confiscated by Meralco. This is heavier than 2,600 SUVs combined and around 7 times the circumference of the Earth.”

The government had previously warned the public about using jumpers. Aside from it being illegal, these can cause harm to communities — from brownouts, people getting electrocuted, and illegal connections may cause fire.

Meralco also recognized that the issue is rooted in something beyond the control of distribution utilities (DU). Private DUs may recover up to 8.5% of losses as provided under ERC Resolution No.17, Series of 2008. Meralco said that one of its actions to prevent electrical theft is to elevate the meters.

Under Republic Act No. 7832, those caught violating the law via illegal electricity wires may be ordered to pay twice of how much electricity they illegally used and/or P10,000 to P20,000 on top.

The penalty of P10,000 to P20,000 may also be imposed upon officers of a corporation who have knowledge of the scheme.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer 

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