NGCP defers implementation of allowable revenue hike

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) had unilaterally deferred the implementation of an interim scheme that would raise its maximum allowable revenue (MAR) to P47.1 billion in 2020 from P43 billion in 2019.

At a hearing conducted by the Senate committee on energy earlier this week, ERC Chair Agnes Devanadera said NGCP was doing this on its own even if the regulator had approved the grid operator’s application for the approval of its iMAR.

Devanadera said the ERC en banc had approved on Feb. 13 NGCP’s application for the increase in iMAR.

According to the ERC, the 2020 iMAR application of NGCP was filed in October 2019, and that the February 2020 decision was not supposed to reflect an increase in the transmission charge.

NGCP’s iMAR is subject to ERC’s approval for every five-year regulatory period. However, administrative concerns faced by the ERC in 2015 and 2016—including constraints in the engagement of regulatory experts—resulted in the delay of the reset process for NGCP’s regulatory timeline. This, in turn, caused both ERC and NGCP to resort to interim schemes.