SM to get windfall from Meralco refund scheme

The SM Group of Companies, controlled by the family of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr., stands to receive more than P900- million worth of refund from the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), industry sources said.

There are currently 19 department stores and malls operating under the SM group. Of these, nine are in Metro Manila and six in Luzon, which are all covered by the Meralco franchise.

The sources said the SM group is one of the top firms which will apparently get the biggest refund from the Lopez-controlled power utility firm.

"There are other firms which will get more based on our initial list," the sources said.

But they said the list is not yet final and is still being evaluated and reviewed by Meralco’s financial group.

Meralco, however, will eventually release the list of firms that will be entitled for the refund for "transparency" purposes.

Meralco is currently soliciting comments from its industrial customers covered under Phase IV of the refund program worth around P18 billion.

Based on the initial proposal, Meralco will issue within the year, if approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and its customers, zero coupon bonds to cover for the last phase of the refund.

In a report, Rosario Torres, a member of the Meralco Refund Management Task Force, said by August this year, the company will be proceeding with the implementation of the refund for services with April 2003 consumption of 601-740 kilowatthour (kWh). This bracket covers about 62,000 customers.

Phase IV of the refund will require some P18.6 billion in funding for about 130,000 customers, mostly in the industrial and commercial sector.

Phase III, on the other hand, will involve 800,000 big residential and general services establishments with P4-billion worth of refund.

Based on the ERC ruling, Meralco should carry out Phase IV of the refund immediately after the third phase, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

In late 2002, the Supreme Court ordered Meralco to refund to its customers some P30.05 billion in billing overcharges collected from 1994 to May 2003.