ERC approves collection of P3B from consumers

By The Manila Times – December 6, 2024

POWER rates will go up next year as regulators have approved the collection of some P3.05 billion from consumers.

The amount represents the remaining 70 percent of charges that power firms were unable to bill after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in March suspended reserve market operations due to a surge in prices.

National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said that over P9.1 billion would have to be billed for the months of February and March, which was later reduced to P8.8 billion following a recalculation by the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP).

The regulator partially lifted the moratorium in May and allowed the collection of 30 percent of the P8.8 billion.

The suspension was fully lifted in July, and the IEMOP was again ordered to recalculate the reserve trading amounts and adjust the value of the remaining 70 percent for the March billing month.

NGCP was also told to update the values for non-compliances, which the IEMOP used for its recalculation. This led to a P725-million reduction, and the “total amount that remains to be collected from consumers stand[s] at around P3.05 billion,” the ERC said.

Consumers in Luzon and the Visayas will have to pay an additional P0.124 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) while those in Mindanao will be dunned a lower P0.033 per kWh. The amounts will be collected over three months in Luzon and Mindanao and six months in the Visayas.

The country’s largest power distributor, Manila Electric Co., said it was currently studying the ERC order.