By Ashley Erika O. Jose, Reporter
MANILA ELECTRIC CO. (Meralco) and ACEN Corp. are jointly seeking relief from the energy regulator to recover P700 million in losses incurred by the Ayala-led energy company in relation to its supply deals with the power utility.
“It is actually lower than initially proposed because that is the condition for the joint filing, but we have already filed,” Meralco Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Ronnie L. Aperocho told reporters on the sidelines of a Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s (MPIC) financial briefing on Wednesday.
Initially, ACEN intends to recover over P2.5 billion in losses related to power supply deals with Meralco, citing a change in circumstances resulting in higher coal prices.
Monalisa C. Dimalanta, Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairperson, did not provide a clear timeline for its decision as the petition needs to be verified for now.
ACEN’s claim covers the two power supply deals with Meralco, with the power sourced from South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp.’s coal-fired plant.
Once approved, the estimated P706.14 million in losses incurred by ACEN would translate to a rate increase of about 4 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Jose Ronald V. Valles, Meralco first vice-president and head of its regulatory management, earlier said the company is joining the petition because it wants to preserve the power supply deal.
“The reason why we’re joining the filing is we want to preserve the power supply agreements. Under the contract, if we don’t agree to file and seek the approval of the ERC for the claim, then they have a recourse to terminate the power supply agreements, which is provided for under the contract,” he said.
Meralco had proposed to collect the losses incurred by ACEN’s generation companies in a six-month period by about P0.04 per kWh in the February billing period, P0.04 per kWh in March, P0.04 per kWh in April, P0.03 per kWh in May, P0.03 per kWh in June and P0.04 per kWh in July.
“This is not unexpected. With the CA (Court of Appeals) supporting SMC’s (San Miguel Corp.) position that they can break their contract and pass on P5 billion in alleged losses to consumers, other companies will naturally want the same deal and increase their profits by raising prices even if their contracts do not allow it,” Gerry C. Arances, convenor of People for Power Coalition (P4P), said in a message.
In 2022, San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. sought a similar claim where it filed for a rate increase to recover P5 billion of P15 billion in losses it incurred due to change in circumstances.
The ERC denied SMC’s petition, saying its power supply agreement with Meralco had no basis because the contract is a fixed-rate deal. SMC filed an appeal with the ERC, and later at the Court of Appeals (CA).
The CA later issued a decision favoring SMC, allowing it to terminate its contract with Meralco.
“We hope that the Energy Regulatory Commission will reject that claim as they did with San Miguel, for the same reason — they have to abide by their fixed-price contract,” Mr. Arances said.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
