The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said a recent Supreme Court (SC) resolution prevented further increases to the generation charge being passed on to consumers.
Meralco said the resolution from the High Tribunal affirmed the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) jurisdiction to correct electricity spot market prices when warranted.
“Meralco is happy to receive the recent SC Resolution which affirmed the ERC’s jurisdiction to set prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and confirmed Meralco’s position that the prices for the third and fourth months of WESM should be adjusted,” Jose Ronald Valles, company first vice president and head of regulatory management, said in a statement.
The SC affirmed the power of the ERC to implement price controls at the WESM as part of the regulatory body’s police power to avoid “unusually high and unreasonable market prices.”
The ruling also decided that WESM prices surged during its third and fourth billing months back in 2006 with spot prices reaching as high as P4,903 per megawatt hour (MWh) and P7,218 per MWh, respectively.
Those would have translated to P9 billion, equivalent to an imposition of additional P6 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in generation charges.
“This resolution is a welcome relief to consumers especially at this time of pandemic as there would be no additional burden to (them). If the WESM prices were not adjusted, this would have translated to an increase in the generation charge of its consumers of about 90 centavos and P2.05 per kWh for the supply months of September and October, 2006, respectively which we will be passed on to consumers,” Valles added.
Earlier, ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera said the SC’s ruling is “very much appreciated as it confirms and validates the efforts of ERC in protecting the consumers as they are affected by the rates.”
