THE call of Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez to review the franchise of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) gained more support as consumer advocates also expressed belief that the power distributor 'has grown too big for efficient management by a single entity.'

Romeo 'Butch' Junia, who was involved as intervenor in cases filed at the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) related to power rates, said a franchise review would be timely because Meralco 'appears to have abandoned its franchise duty to provide services at the least cost as the upward trend of power rates would show.'