ERC vows to mitigate impact of P22-b generation charges

THE Energy Regulatory Commission assured over the weekend it would mitigate the impact of the P22.64-billion charges on consumers related to the Supreme Court ruling on the 2013 generation costs.

ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said the collection of the charges from consumers would begin by the fourth quarter of 2023.

“We are looking at a staggered collection over a period longer than one year, but still evaluating now. Earliest implementation would be fourth quarter,” Dimalanta said.

The Supreme Court last year issued a ruling nullifying the ERC order imposing regulated prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market for the supply months of November and December 2013.

The ERC implemented a regulated pricing to mitigate the impact of the high WESM rates to consumers resulting from the Malampaya gas facility maintenance shutdown.

The shutdown coincided with the maintenance of other power plants, resulting in very high rate in the spot market. This prompted the ERC to also conduct an investigation after allegations of collusion and market abuse at the WESM surfaced.

The SC voided the ERC order imposing regulated prices pending the result of its investigation over allegations of market power abuse.

Dimalanta did not provide further details on the possible price increase per distribution utility as this would depend on the collection period and validation.

The SC ruling also allowed Manila Electric Co. “to collect the price increase in November 2013 on a staggered basis as proposed by Meralco and approved by ERC for the protection of consumers.”

Meralco head of regulatory management Ronald Valles earlier said the staggered collection “would be a big win for consumers, especially if that would be implemented today when fuel prices are skyrocketing.”