PSALM to appeal Meralco refund order

MANILA, Philippines - The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM), the state agency tasked to privatize the assets of state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) and to manage its liabilities, will appeal the refund ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

PSALM said the ERC, in its recent order, deviated from a previous methodology it adopted in its March 2010 decision in computing the refund that PSALM and Napocor must give back to Meralco customers for transmission line losses charged by the state-run agency.

The ERC’s March 2013 decision approved a refund of P5.18 billion for customers of Meralco, which is half of the utility firm’s original refund claim of P9.8 billion.

Napocor, the state-owned power firm, will implement the refund through monthly payments to Meralco of P74 million until the full amount is covered, the ERC said in its decision.

In 2008, Meralco filed its petition against Napocor demanding the refund of its overpayments to state-owned power company.

The refund claim stemmed from the inability of the two parties to implement their contract provision on the reconciliation of the  2.98 percent line loss charge incorporated in Napocor’s rates imposed on Meralco and the actual line rental payments made by the power distributor to the Philippine Electricity Spot Market (PEMC), which operates the country’s trading floor for electricity, the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

However, PSALM said it would file a motion for reconsideration on behalf of Napocor. It said that while there was a significant reduction in the amount in the refund approved by the ERC – from P9.8 billion to P5.1 billion – it still was not privy to the computations submitted by Meralco to the ERC.