Chapter 109: System is Fucked Up

A day later, in Timothy’s office, BGC.Timothy and Hana were inside and for today’s agenda, the matter of electricity bill.

"According to our Chief Technological Officer and the Chief Operating Officer of TG Motors and the TG Mobility Holdings, despite our energy management policies in place, they are still not enough. In order for us to be profitable in a large margin, this country needs a policy change," Hana concluded her report and put down the tablet.

Hana was looking beautiful today.

She wore a crisp white blouse made of soft silk, its long ribbon-tie collar draped neatly down her chest. The fabric caught the light from the office windows, giving her an effortless glow against the minimalist gray backdrop of the boardroom. The blouse was tucked into a powder-blue pencil skirt that reached just above her knees, perfectly tailored to her figure.

Timothy glanced at her briefly, then looked away with a faint smile. "Yeah, a national policy is needed. Have you looked into what I’m asking you to look into?" ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ ????????????????????•????????????????•????????????

"You want me to research the possibility of building a nuclear power plant in the Philippines right? There is one I found, it’s called the PhilATOM, passed by President Farcos in 2025."

"Tell me about it," Timothy said.

Hana swiped across her tablet and opened a government briefing document. "PhilATOM, short for Philippine Advanced Technology for Optimum Modernization. It’s a national framework proposed under the Department of Energy last year. Technically, it legalizes the development of small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs, within Philippine territory. The law reactivated the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant program, not to operate it, but to use it as a research and training hub."

Timothy leaned forward slightly, interest flickering in his eyes. "Finally, something with sense."

"But I also researched about the whole framework of electricity in the Philippines," Hana continued, scrolling through her tablet. "It’s called EPIRA, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001. It’s the law that completely privatized the energy sector after the government dismantled the old National Power Corporation monopoly."

Timothy tilted his head slightly. "Privatized? Meaning the government doesn’t control power anymore?"

"Exactly," Hana said. "Under EPIRA, the entire energy system was split into four parts, generation, transmission, distribution, and supply. Each one controlled by different entities."

She stood, walking to the digital whiteboard, tapping to bring up a chart.

"First, generation. That’s the production of electricity. Mostly owned by private generation companies, Aboitiz Power, San Miguel Global Power, First Gen, and a few foreign players. They run the power plants: coal, hydro, geothermal, and gas. They sell electricity to distributors through something called the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, or WESM."

"Second, transmission. That’s the national grid. It’s owned by the government but operated under concession by a private Chinese-Filipino consortium, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). They move the electricity from power plants to distribution utilities."

"Third, distribution. That’s where companies like Meralco and Visayan Electric come in. They take power from the grid and sell it directly to consumers, including industrial users like us."

"And finally, supply. That’s the retail segment, mostly handled by the same distribution utilities under different subsidiaries. They technically sell electricity, but because the generation and distribution companies are tied to the same conglomerates, there’s very little real competition."

Timothy leaned back, brows furrowed. "So, in short... a legal monopoly, fragmented into private hands."

"Exactly," Hana replied. "EPIRA was meant to liberalize the market, but in reality, it just transferred control from one giant monopoly to several private ones. That’s why prices never went down, they went up. Everyone passes the cost to the consumer, and the regulators barely intervene."

Timothy exhaled, tapping his pen on the desk. "So the government gave up control of power, and now the people are paying the price. Typical."

"There is also exclusiveness where a distribution such as Meralco would operate in Metro Manila," Hana continued, scrolling further down the document, "and no other company can compete in that same area. The same goes for Visayan Electric in Cebu, and Davao Light in Mindanao. Each of these utilities holds an exclusive franchise granted by Congress — meaning only they can distribute electricity within their respective territories."

Timothy frowned. "So it’s a monopoly carved into zones."

"Pretty much," Hana said. "They call it ’service area protection.’ It’s supposed to prevent overlapping investments, but in reality, it just locks competition out entirely. If you’re a consumer, or an industrial user like us, you have no choice but to buy from whoever holds the franchise. And because they pass through charges from the generation companies and transmission operators, you’re basically paying a markup at every step."

Hana nodded. "Exactly. And the Energy Regulatory Commission, the ERC, is supposed to keep these rates fair, but their control is mostly reactive. They only step in after prices spike or if there’s a complaint. Meanwhile, these conglomerates lobby heavily in Congress to maintain the status quo."

Timothy leaned back, staring out at the skyline beyond the glass wall. "So the entire country’s electricity, from production to delivery, is being handled by a closed circle of corporations protected by law. And the government calls that ’reform.’"

"That’s the ironic part," Hana replied. "EPIRA was sold to the public as a way to reduce prices through privatization and efficiency. But instead, it created a layered monopoly where the consumer — whether household or industrial — always ends up paying more. The entire system depends on imported fuel, outdated infrastructure, and bureaucratic inefficiency."

Hana looked up from her tablet. "You’re right, Timothy. Unless someone disrupts this cycle, electricity will always be expensive. Even if the government passes new renewable incentives, the distributors and grid operators will still dictate the flow, and the price."

Timothy stood up slowly, walking toward the wide glass window overlooking Bonifacio Global City.

"That’s why I don’t plan to depend on them. Well, there time will come. It won’t be today but it will happen soon. It will be a time where I will establish a new enterprise in the energy industry. I will build nuclear power plants in this country that will power up the factories and labs. But first, let’s focus on the opening of the semiconductor enterprise."