PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said power rate increases should be staggered and implemented after the Christmas holidays.
The President, in a chance interview at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Laguna, made the statement as he reiterated his concern over the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) to temporarily suspend the power supply agreement (PSA) between the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and San Miguel Corp.’s subsidiary South Premier Power Corp. (SPPC), which is seen to cause higher electricity rates.
Marcos said his administration is closely monitoring the developments and working on measures to mitigate the impact of the TRO, if any, on the general public.
He said the public is already suffering and a power rate hike would be an additional burden.
“Iyun ang talagang tinatrabaho namin ngayon, na hindi tumaas ang power. Not this, at least not for Christmas man lang. If we could postpone and padahan-dahanin lang natin. Kung tataas man, dahan-dahanin natin ang pagtaas (That is what we are working on, to prevent a power price hike, at least not for Christmas. If we could postpone and make it staggered. If it goes up, to make it staggered),” he said.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra yesterday said his office is studying the factual and legal issues regarding the deal between Meralco and SPPC.
“The Office of the Solicitor General is the counsel of the State in all litigations concerning the government. It is presently studying the factual and legal issues involved in this case,” Guevarra said when sought for comment if the OSG will intervene in the case to lift the injunction.
The CA 14th Division last Friday issued a 60-day temporary restraining order in favor of SPPC, a San Miguel subsidiary, which made the appeal after Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) junked the motions of Meralco, San Miguel Energy Corporation and SPPC to increase the generation charge.
In seeking to hike the generation charge, the power companies cited the increase in coal and natural gas prices that it utilizes to produce electricity.
The ERC junked their plea, saying that the agreed upon price in the PSA was fixed and the grounds cited by Meralco and SPPC were not among the exceptions that would allow it to grant the price adjustment.
The ERC had expressed concern over the CA decision which it said would expose approximately 7.5 million registered Meralco consumers in the National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon (Region III) and Calabarzon (Region IV) to higher electricity prices “without preparation usually observed in case of PSA termination”.
The ERC said the fixed price in the PSA of Meralco with SPPC covers 670 megawatts (MW) of supply, which, along with the other fixed price PSAs, has shielded Meralco consumers for the past several months from the volatility of prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and automatic fuel pass-through PSAs. — With Ashzel Hachero
