A party-list representative has filed a resolution seeking a congressional inquiry into the plan of the government-owned Power Sector and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) to pass on P470.8-billion in debt and cash expenses to consumers of electricity.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casino said if the Energy Regulatory Commission approved the plan of PSALM to pass on its debts and other expenses to consumers, this would mean higher electricity bills over the next 17 years.

Casino filed House Resolution 97 seeking a congressional inquiry into PSALM’s new petition to pass on to the public its P470.8 billion debts and expenses, bonuses, cash incentives and salaries of PSALM executives and personnel.

“This was packaged as a ‘performance incentive’ for privatizing power assets and were itemized as ‘other maintenance and operating expenses’ (in 2008 alone), on top of the P80.5 million salaries for its 165 personnel,” he said.

PSALM is insisting that consumers shoulder the P80.9 million bonus it gave to its employees.

This is “unconscionable and downright illegal,” said Casino who urged the House Committee on Energy to review the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, particularly provisions that allow power generators and distributors the privilege of imposing higher electricity rates.

According to Casino, the state-owned PSALM has also sought to recover P18.4 million covering the night shift differential for its trading team then at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and a “whopping P118 million for professional services that were paid to its consultants on privatization.”

“These were all inserted in the company’s filing for stranded debts recovery totaling P470.865 billion,” he said.

Casino said that while EPIRA defines stranded debts as “unpaid financial obligations of Napocor” this does not include salaries for employees, bonuses and fees for consultants.

“In PSALM’s filing for universal charge recovery accounting for stranded debts, it proposed to pass on via electric bills on a levelized P0.3049 per kilowatt hour (kWh) as additional charges in the bills; provided that its recovery period will last only until PSALM’s end of corporate life in 2025,” said Casino.

He added that apart from the initial filing of P471 billion in June 2009, PSALM filed for another P54.897 billion stranded debt recovery starting last month seeking to pass on P0.8677 per kWh additional charges in the electric bills.

Casino said these are on top of the company’s bid for another pass-on of stranded contract costs.

“The latest filing in June 2010 amounting to P26.685 billion will redound to P0.1879 per kWh additional universal charge in the bills; while the initial stranded contract cost filing in 2009 will translate to P0.5024 per kWh rate recovery,” he said.