Meralco to assess SC ruling impact on power rates

Listed Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power distributor, on Tuesday said it will assess the impact of the Supreme Court’s (SC) ruling on electricity rates.

“We have yet to receive the official copy of the decision. Once we receive it though, we will need to study the reported SC decision to understand and see what the actual impact will be,” said Meralco in a statement.

Meralco is referring to the SC resolution which affirmed the order issued by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) authorizing Meralco to collect P22.64 billion in generation cost on a staggered basis.

The high court said the ERC “did not commit grave abuse of discretion” in approving Meralco’s staggered collection of its generation rate.

To recall, the regulatory agency authorized Meralco to implement a generation charge of P7.67 per kilowatt-hour in its December 2013 billing and add another P1 per kWh for the February 2014 billing.

Meralco was prompted to levy higher charges following the shutdown of the Malampaya gas field which coincided with the scheduled maintenance of other generation plants.

The power firm previously said the total cost of generation to be passed on to its customers stood at P22.64 billion.

Temporary restraining orders, however, were issued, halting Meralco from recovering generation costs.

—Jordeene B. Lagare INQ