Meralco seeks to recover P7.98b from customers over 12 months
By Alena Mae S. Flores – April 26, 2023, 7:45 pm
from manilastandard.net
Power retailer Manila Electric Co. is seeking to recover P7.98 billion from customers over a 12-month period which would translate into an increase in power rate of P0.22 per kilowatt-hour.
The amount represents under-recoveries from 2020 to 2022, according to Meralco.
Meralco head of regulatory management office Jose Ronald Valles said the company would file an under-recovery application with the Energy Regulatory Commission by the end of April.
“The period is end of April. Our proposal is to recover it over a period of 12 months,” Valles said.
“We have an estimated impact to customers of around P0.22 per kilowatt-hour but still dependent on ERC approval with respect to the term if approved for a longer or shorter period,” Valles said.
Valles said that under ERC rules, Luzon distribution utilities were supposed to file their respective over/under-recovery applications by March 31, 2023.
“Due to the voluminous documents that need to be prepared and validated, Meralco requested for an extension to file until April 30, 2023,” he said.
Meralco said the amount consists of under-recovery for generation costs at P6.413 billion, transmission at P607.38 million, system loss at P764.17 million and real property tax at P228.88 million.
Meralco, however, computed an over-recovery for subsidies amounting to P3.28 million and local franchise tax at P27.32 million.
Valles said distribution utilities register over and under-recoveries “primarily because of the lag between payment to generation companies and billing to customers.”
Meralco’s consolidated core net income rose 40 percent to P9 billion in the first three months from P6.4 billion in the same quarter in 2022.
The higher CCNI was driven by the significant contribution of its power generation business, which grew three times versus from a year earlier.
Consolidated reported net income increased by 26 percent to P8.1 billion from P6.4 billion as consolidated revenues went up by 23 percent to P105.6 billion from P85.9 billion.
