Meralco urges CA to reject SMEC’s petition for TRO

BY LORENZ S. MARASIGAN – DECEMBER 23, 2022
from Business Mirror

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to deny the stay order and writ of preliminary injunction sought by San Miguel Energy Corp. (SMEC) in relation to their power supply agreement (PSA).

In its motion filed on Wednesday, Meralco said the issuance of an injunction will “lead to the termination of its PSA with SMEC, disrupt the supply of electricity, and expose its customers to potentially higher power rates.”

SMEC currently supplies 330 MW of Meralco’s baseload power requirement under a PSA executed following a competitive selection process in 2019.

“With due respect, the possible grant of the TRO or writ of preliminary injunction will lead to Petitioner SMEC’s cessation in supplying electricity to Meralco, which it is obligated to do pursuant to the terms and conditions of the PSA,” Meralco said.

Meralco also asked the CA to “direct the parties to continuously implement the PSA that would serve and protect the public from the unnecessary burden of increased electricity costs,” citing the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA).

The Pangilinan-led company said allowing the property rights of a generation company to take precedence over public welfare “would be travesty of the policies enshrined under EPIRA and a disservice to the public.”

This is Meralco’s latest move after it sought the lifting of the CA’s temporary restraining order on the Ilijan PSA with South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC) and to deny the generation company’s application for a writ of preliminary injunction.