NGCP allowed higher revenues of

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has allowed upward adjustment in the interim maximum allowable revenue (iMAR) of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to R43.789 billion from what was previously approved at R41.653 billion.

That had been based on the modified approval given by the industry regulator to its 2016 revenue level – and was correspondingly reflected as added R0.15 per kilowatthour (kWh) NGCP’s increase in billing to customers, primarily for the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), this March.

The ERC noted that “NGCP is authorized to continuously bill its transmission customers using this adjusted iMAR for the succeeding regulatory years until the Commission’s issuance of the final determination for the fourth regulatory period.

It similarly emphasized that “the difference between the provisionally-approved iMAR for 2016 of R41.653 billion and the approved iMAR shall be collected by NGCP in calendar year 2017.”

The interim revenue level of the transmission concessionaire-firm though is still lower than what it originally applied for at R45.287 billion.

There had also been adjustment of R7.553 billion that NGCP had petitioned for accounting for cost recoveries under its second regulatory reset.

The ERC explained that it adopted “previous methodology similar to the determination of the MAR2003 to arrive at a base MAR