ERC to look into impact of $3.3-B LNG deal

THE Energy Regulatory Commission ( ERC) will be l ooking into how the $3.3-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal among three of the Philippines’ most influential tycoons will impact consumers and electricity costs.

Early this month, tycoons Manuel Pangilinan, Ramon Ang and Sabin Aboitiz have entered into a deal to jointly invest in two gas-fired power plants — the 1,278-megawatt Ilijan power plant and a 1,320- megawatt combined cycle power facility set to start operations this year.

The three will then invest in nearly 100% of Linseed Field Corporation’s LNG import regasification terminal, which will be used to receive, store, and process fuel for the two power plants.

“Yes,” ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said when asked to confirm reports that her agency will look into how the LNG deal will impact electricity prices.

However, she clarified that the ERC is not investigating the deal as “the review and approval of the merger is under PC C( Philippine Competition Commission).”

The ERC chief said the regulator will review the effect, if any, on the present and future power supply agreements concerning the three companies — San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. ( SMGP), Meralco PowerGen Corp. ( MGen) and Aboitiz Power Corp. (AP) — involved in the $3.3-billion LNG deal.

“There has been a standing agreement for coordinated review since 2019. We just operationalized the agreement by setting up the joint inquiry last month,” Dimalanta told reporters.

In 2019, the PCC signed an agreement with the ERC and the Department of Energy (DOE) in the conduct of threeway coordinated investigation into the power industry.

The United Filipino Consumers and Commuters ( UFCC) over the weekend alleged that the deal would lead to higher electricity rates.

Once fully operational, the LNG deal is seen to add over 2,500 megawatts of generation capacity to the country’s power supply, meeting the country’s energy requirements and providing support to its target to lower emissions.

This comes as the DOE aims to have renewable energy account for 50% of the generation mix by 2040. It also targets to have natural gas contribute 26% to the mix by then.

National Economic and Development Authority ( NEDA) secretary Arsenio Balisacan in September said the Philippines would need $103.6 billion or P5.8 trillion worth of i nvestments i n renewable energy projects to meet the target power generation mix by 2040. (GMA