THE Commission on Audit said power consumers may have been unfairly billed by their local electric cooperatives and distribution utilities after it found out the Energy Regulatory Commission failed to conduct periodic meter testing to determine accuracy.
In an audit report released last Aug. 29, 2014, COA said 125 out of 139 DUs all over the country failed to comply with the requirement for regular calibration and accuracy testing under ERC rules.
Under the guidelines, “all electric meters… should have been tested and sealed by the ERC” before installation and each one should be re-tested at least once every two years.
For meters already installed and in use, in-service testing has been in effect since July 2012 but has been ignored.
The audit report did not name the non-complying electric cooperatives.
COA faulted the ERC for neglecting its mandate of ensuring compliance by the DUs and of imposing sanctions on those who fail or refuse to observe the policy.
A status report dated April 15, 2014 submitted by the ERC Meter Division said only five DUs were certified to be fully compliant while another nine simply opted to replace old meters with new, pre-tested ones rather than conduct actual testing in their service areas.
A total of 97 DUs asked ERC for a longer grace period to conduct the meter tests while another 28 submitted incomplete testing plans that are still subject to revisions.
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