In an opinion piece published by Philstar Biz, a power industry veteran with nearly 40 years of experience calls for a more nuanced public discussion on system loss, a topic he says is often misunderstood despite its direct impact on electricity rates and grid reliability.
The author draws on his experience through some of the country’s worst power crises, including blackouts lasting up to 12 hours, and the industry reforms that followed. He notes that the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 reshaped the sector, yet the concept of system loss — the energy lost during transmission and distribution — remains poorly understood by consumers and even by some policymakers who now debate caps and recovery mechanisms.
The piece urges stakeholders to look beyond simple reductions in system loss percentages and consider the operational realities of aging infrastructure, theft, and technical efficiency. The author argues that a deeper understanding is essential for crafting fair and sustainable electricity pricing rules in the Philippines, especially as the country continues to expand its generation capacity and modernize its grid.