THE Supreme Court (SC) upheld the authority of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to require consumers to provide bill deposits as security for their electricity bills, deeming it a legitimate exercise of the ERC’s rate-setting powers to safeguard the financial stability of electricity distributors.
The tribunal en banc, in a 32-page ruling promulgated on Oct. 8, 2024, but was only publicized on Jan. 27, said that judicial review necessitates an actual and finalized government action that directly impacts the petitioners.
As the ERC’s Rules on Bill Deposits are still in the process of being finalized, there is no definitive act subject to challenge.
“It is not our function to issue an advisory opinion on the questions of policy and regulations of administrative agencies. It is premature for this Court to intervene in the delicate exercise of the ERC’s rate-fixing functions since it has yet to finalize the rules on bill deposits and the more specific mechanisms for its implementation,” it said.
The case stemmed from the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers, which ERC introduced in 2004. It mandated residential consumers to pay bill deposits equivalent to one month’s estimated billing as a guarantee for payments.
These deposits could be used for overdue bills, earned annual interest credited to customers’ accounts, and were refundable upon service termination. The ERC issued guidelines for the collection and refund of deposits.
In 2018, the ERC proposed draft rules for monitoring and reporting bill deposits and sought stakeholder feedback.
In 2019, former lawmakers Neri J. Colmenares and Carlos Isagani T. Zarate, among others, challenged the bill deposit requirement before the high court, arguing that it lacked sufficient regulations. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
