Meralco to impose lower recalculated rates, if...

MANILA, Philippines - Top power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said yesterday that today’s expiration of the Supreme Court (SC) temporary restraining order (TRO) on its collection of the December 2013 generation charge would allow it to impose the lower recalculated rates to be issued by the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC).

This is in case the SC rejects the petition of militant lawmakers for another extension of the TRO.

Meralco first vice president and deputy general counsel William Pamintuan said the expiration of the TRO would allow Meralco to implement the order issued by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

The ERC earlier voided the rates at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the trading floor for electricity, for the November 2013 and December 2013 supply months, citing market failure and instead ordered PEMC to issue recalculated rates.

“We join the ERC in assuring our consumers that the expiration of the SC TRO will not result in the automatic imposition of increased power rates,” Pamintuan said.

“The ERC had already ordered the recalculation of the WESM rates for November 2013 supply month, which is expected to be substantially lower than the rate that was enjoined by the TRO. In fact, the expiration of the TRO will actually allow the implementation of the said ERC recalculation order,” he said.

“Meralco shall await the new rate from PEMC and shall file with the ERC the appropriate application. Meralco shall respect and comply with any order that the SC may issue on this matter,” he added.

The ERC also said it would have to wait for the SC’s decision on whether or not to extend the TRO.

“If the SC extends the TRO, no order will have to be issued by the ERC. If there is no extension, the ERC may just have to direct PEMC to recalculate Meralco’s November WESM bill,” said ERC executive director Saturnino Juan.

In a press briefing last month, Meralco chief finance Officer Betty Siy-Yap said based on the company’s estimates, the generation charge for the month of December would go up by P0.2715 per kilowatt-hour from the original P3.44 per kwh.

This means that generation charge for the December bill would be at P5.9388 per kwh instead of the original P9.10 per kwh.

TRO extension sought

For Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, Meralco can collect the unprecedented P4.15 per kwh rate increase upon the expiration of the TRO today.

Colmenares disagreed with pronouncements made by Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla and Meralco officials that the distributor cannot charge its more than five million customers P4.15 since it has already reduced the amount to 45 centavos in a petition filed with the ERC.

He said the rate that the SC stopped in December was P4.15 per kwh and not 45 centavos, and it is the higher figure that would prevail.

He reiterated his group’s appeal for the high court to again extend its TRO, void the increase for November-December 2013 and resolve the issues it raised in its December complaint questioning the Meralco adjustment.

Palace meeting

The power rate issue will be in the agenda of President Aquino’s pre-Labor Day meeting with labor groups on Thursday at Malacañang.

“The President is supposed to meet us for two hours and we have agreed to listen to his response to the eight issues that we have raised a long time ago,” Alan Tanjusay, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesman, said.

“Labor groups have been patient in talking with Cabinet officials on the eight issues we have raised for the past two years. These issues have been deeply hurting the workers and we hope the Cabinet officials have brought these to the attention of the President,” he added.

Aside from seeking assurances of sufficient power supply for industries, labor groups are also demanding criminalization of contractualization, reforms on minimum wage taxation and institutionalization of core labor standards. – With Jess Diaz, Mayen Jaymalin