Petilla: Correct pricing of Meralco's Dec. 2013 rates out soon

MANILA, Philippines - Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla on Monday said the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is expected to soon release the correct pricing for the December 2013 rate of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).

Petilla said the ERC computation "should be fair," after the DOE, ERC and the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. conducted an investigation into the Meralco power rate hike which saw December rates jumping to as much as P4.15 per kilowatt hour.

Meralco's transmission charge from October to November last year was at P5.66 per kilowatt hour, but it posted a P3.44-increase to P9.11 in December due to higher cost power producers required from Meralco. The jump in transmission charge, along with taxes and other fees, caused an  increase amounting to P4.15 per kWh household consuming 200 kilowatts per month.

“Logic dictates that these are not the proper prices,” Petilla said.

The request to hike the transmission charge came after the one-month maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya gas-to-power project in November last year. Several power generators also had unscheduled shutdowns the same time, resulting to limited power supply. Power generators turned to more expensive fuel to run their power plants.

Petilla said a maximum of 2,085 megawatt was not offered at a certain hour during the Malampaya shutdown and that 36 power generators that did not offer capacities at a certain hour in the latter part of 2013, which made capacity low and resulted to price spike. These went against the requirement to offer maximum capacity to the spot market to prevent power producers from withholding capacities.