PSALM’s collection soars to

There had been six-month swell in the universal charge (UC) collections of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) with the amount reaching billion as of April this year.

That was roughly increase from end-October last year at a level just totaling billion then. UC is a pass-through charge in the consumers’ electric bills.

The heftier increase had been recorded on revenues fetched from universal charge for stranded contract costs (UC-SCC) which inched up billion for November 2014 to April 2015.

The amount fetched from universal charge for missionary electrification (UC-ME) intended as subsidy for the Small Power Utilities Group of the National Power Corporation (NPC-SPUG) had been more moderate at an increase of billion for the period.

Collection uptrends were also logged for UC on environmental charges (UCEC) at million; and the UC for Renewable Energy Developer Cash Incentive (UC-REDCI) at million within the specified six-month stretch.

“For the period November 2014 to April 2015, PSALM received a total of

billion in UC remittances from collecting entities,” PSALM noted.

For the collections during the period, it emphasized that billion had already been disbursed to NPC for its missionary electrification program.

It added that “for the UC-EC, PSALM disbursed to NPC a total amount of million” mainly to fund its 10 priority watershed management programs.

For the UC stranded contract costs, it was specified that highest collections were registered in the months of November of 2014 as well as February and April this year at more than billion each.

With the disbursements made, PSALM has indicated that its UC fund balance now just stands at billion.

PSALM still has a pending petition with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for collection of billion in additional UC-SCC from consumers over a one-year period. (MMV)