Kasama kaya sa "SYSTEM LOSS" ang traffic lights?

[art727]

Kasama kaya ang mga traffic lights na buhay pa ren at active pero hindi ginagamit na pang-traffic ng MMDA?..sino ang nagbabayad nito? kasama ba tayo sa pagbabayad nito as System Loss? dapat bang i-turn off ito o dismantle kaya?

[Kiko Travel]

I don't think so...I'm not sure of this...pero yung mga traffic lights...and mga ilaw sa poste...eh city government ang nag babayad sa meralco or to any power producer ....but this is interesting...kailangan kasi ma ennumerate lahat ng system losses na yan...

[la_flash]

nope, it is not.

i think it's either the DOTC or the local govt pays for it.

[Kiko Travel]

teka...iba ba ang local government sa city govt...that's what I meant...saka sure ka ba sa mga pinag sasabi mo...mukang pabida ka parate

[la_flash]

teka...iba ba ang local government sa city govt...that's what I meant...saka sure ka ba sa mga pinag sasabi mo...mukang pabida ka parate

I am not referring to you. I am just answering the question of the TS.

[MangNato]

Even if it(system loss) was, I don't think it(system loss) would be a fraction of whats being contested in this Meralco affair. (Whether its from the local government or not).

Pwede pakilinaw art727, tinatanong mo ba kung sinisingil ng meralco ang guberno/mamamayan?

[Kiko Travel]

eto taken from a blog...

A. Technical Losses -

1. Conductors such as copper and aluminum for domestic utility voltage transmission and distribution (220/440V)and steel-reinforced aluminum for medium and high voltage transmission(4.16KV to 138KV) all consume electricity since copper, aluminum, and steel are not "perfect" conductors. They will consume some of the electricity and dissipate it as heat. This energy will of course be "missing" from the utilized sum from the bills.

2. Add to that those consumed in the substations (switching yards that connect your city lines to the power grid) which may come from Substation Transformer (huge, floor-mounted types) which step-down High Voltage coming from TRANSCO to a lower, "safe" distribution voltage. These transformers have so-called core losses because again, transformer coil windings are made from copper or aluminum. Further, energized transformers, even if not connected to any load will still consume power in the primary (higher voltage) windings.

3. Transformers also have cooling systems which utilize huge electric fans which operate much like the radiator system on your air conditioning unit. This also consumes electricity.

4. The different aspects of power in these substations are measured for control and monitoring purposes using, again, smaller instrument transformers which also consume power. Solid state electronics, including on-site computers and transmitters, are also installed for a more efficient supervision in a central area, say Meralco Bldg. in Ortigas, which controls the whole of its franchise area in Luzon. These peripheral equipment's consumption, likewise, is "missing" from the sum.

5. After power leaves the substation through the distribution lines (which conductors will consume some more power), it goes to the distribution transformer on top of the electric post nearest your house. Again this transformer has its own systems loss. Meralco's area of responsibility ends where the service-drop cable enters your electric meter.

B. Non-Technical or Pilferage Losses - Unauthorized tapping into the system, using of jumpers to bypass the electric meter, use of devices that alter the meters' reading, and generally all usage that is not reflected in the bills by fraudulent methods. The meter readers' errors also fall into this category.

C. Administrative Consumption Losses- Every substation has its own office building which consumes electricity for its lighting, office equipment, maybe appliances such as coffee-maker, water dispensers, and cellphone chargers also adds to systems loss.

What I'm not sure, since it's not clear from the answers given in the Senate, if the power consumed in the whole Meralco complex in Ortigas, or in their other offices in the franchise area, which may include the collection offices, are also included in the systems loss computation. If so, this belongs to administrative consumption

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It's standard practice worldwide that distributors are ALLOWED a certain amount of systems loss since there are no perfect machines, so transformers and conductors are not an exemption to this. The amount of energy leaving the power plant will always be bigger than the energy that the distributor will collect based on the meters.

Therefore, technical losses are inherent to the system thus, we can allow Meralco or whoever runs distribution to pass this on to the consumers wholly.

Some may argue that technical losses can be minimized. That's true but in the case of transformers, oversizing is the only way to improve efficiency, but that will also increase capital machinery cost and the bottom line is it will just be reflected on the Return On Rate Base (RORB)- a percentage of profit the government's regulating agency like ERC, or a law like EPIRA, may fix for utility companies. No gain there. Conductors? Copper is the cheapest material presently known to man that serves the purpose. Improving systems loss on conductors by installing silver or gold cables will definitely be a bigger headache later.

Pilferage, the last time I checked is already a crime. Going after criminals is whose business, Meralco? Of course Meralco will be needed to identify and prove pilferage, but excuse me, I have yet to see PNP Chief Razon or Sir Raul O. Gonzales who heads NBI ordering their men to investigate wide scale pilferage in many squatters' areas in the Metropolis. Or a systems loss investigation for whole cities and provinces.

To ensure Meralco will participate in apprehending and prosecuting pilferers, a reward system is necessary even if just to reimburse Meralco for its expenses and effort.

In this case, I say charge systems losses from pilferage to government This government wants to earn taxes without doing its job? By charging it to government, they will be forced to protect the paying consumers and ensure that the distributors will be rewarded. The present system only encourages thieves and punishes honest consumers. Do I hear a lawyer saying it's unconstitutional?

On administrative losses, this is a contentious issue since we or I am not yet sure if the Meralco Office building in Ortigas Ave., or that Meralco Office in Harrison St. where I pay my bills and other similar offices are consuming power that are included in our billed system loss charge. If they do, does EPIRA allow it?

EPIRA did provide a 9.5% cap on Meralco's pass on systems loss, what I don't know is how the law's sponsors arrived at the figure. To come to this specific percentage, the drafters should have first determined the industry standards in US since our electrical system designs are patterned after the Americans' National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), National Electrical Manufacturers' Association (NEMA), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) among the main ones. We can also consult for comparison the Europeans' International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the Japanese Institute Standards (JIS) which is also the basis of some Asian countries like South Korea.

It is not enough that we know the percentage in other countries but also what items comprise this figure. At maximum, we can allow Meralco to charge to systems loss only up to the essential parts of their business. I don't think we should be paying the electric bills for example of Meralco Theater that is used for staging concerts, or MIESCOR, a Meralco subsidiary that is also a sub-contractor, or any of the other businesses of the Lopezes that are also consuming power in the Meralco building.

This is a long, and detailed study that needs to be made and like chaffs and grains, remove those not integral to the business. What remains, we can allow to be passed on BUT always within the percentage cap we have determined earlier. This will require the modification of EPIRA by Congress.

Of the different utilities, it is only in electricity that we are complaining
about systems loss. Water distribution has its own systems loss also, coming from evaporation, leaks and again, pilferage, why is nobody complaining? Similar with gas and petrol. Because electricity is heavily regulated we get to see the unbundled items in our electric bills. For me, transparency from Meralco is not a problem. The problem lies with ERC and EPIRA sponsors in Congress which should have been auditing the records of the distributors before they approved the rates. Several reviews had been undertaken by government people from other departments (of course, not from the moron Reyes' Department of Energy) and they all came up with nothing. That always happens when you have incompetents, morons and the corrupt running government. I guess their stupid purpose was only to search for items they could tax. Systems loss should in no way be taxed by government.

The total removal of systems loss charges, as some are now espousing, will in the end be detrimental to ensuring that the distributor will not go bankrupt and result to massive blackouts like California experienced and ended with the people paying more later.

My proposal would therefore be determine systems losses separately for technical, pilferage and administrative. Check if the technical losses are within standards and set a limit there. Pilferage is the responsibility of government so they must account for it. Absolutely no pass on. Reward the distributor if it helps catch power thieves. Administrative losses must ensure only the power consumed for integral essential activities are allowed to be passed on to consumers.

It must be a balance of the interests of the power investor, the benefits to honest and paying consumers, and fair taxation for government.

As for taxes, sales to government had always been exempted from taxes and import duties. In the same manner, government money invested in private businesses should also be tax-free. At the very least, proportionate to the percentage of government ownership at the time the purchase was made. For example, purchases made by PNOC, which is roughly half-owned by government, should only be taxed and duties levied in proportion to the amount owned by private persons. Therefore, the price of Petron should be much lower since pass-on duties and taxes are only half of what it had been collecting! Same with government investments in banks, Meralco, Transco, GOCCs, etc. That should be fair enough.

Implementing these proposals will need a lot of serious, honest work from government.

I can dream can't I?

Labels: Energy, EPIRA, ERC, Malacañang, Meralco Takeover, Napocor, systems loss, Transco


posted by Tongue's Wrath @ 5/25/2008 12:18:00 AM

22 Comments:

[Kiko Travel]

Natawa naman ako...pati coffeemaker...hahahahaha...how convenient...mga HAYOP KAYO!!

[pian]

...

Of the different utilities, it is only in electricity that we are complaining
about systems loss. Water distribution has its own systems loss also, coming from evaporation, leaks and again, pilferage, why is nobody complaining? Similar with gas and petrol. Because electricity is heavily regulated we get to see the unbundled items in our electric bills. For me, transparency from Meralco is not a problem. The problem lies with ERC and EPIRA sponsors in Congress which should have been auditing the records of the distributors before they approved the rates. Several reviews had been undertaken by government people from other departments (of course, not from the moron Reyes' Department of Energy) and they all came up with nothing. That always happens when you have incompetents, morons and the corrupt running government. I guess their stupid purpose was only to search for items they could tax. Systems loss should in no way be taxed by government.
...

Nobody's complaining for the systems losses of other utilities because there was no controversial personality like Winston Garcia who made noise (albeit selfishly) which placed Meralco in the limelight.