Meralco wants ERC reconstituted

By Alena Mae S. Flores – February 04, 2018 at 07:15 pm
from Manila Bulletin

Power retailer Manila Electric Co. asked the government to “reconstitute” the Energy Regulatory Commission amid delays in the issuances of decisions on pending applications.

“I hope, the main thing about Meralco is our PSA [power supply agreements]. We can’t proceed to build one or two of our plants without the PSA, so we hope the government will see its way through to reconstitute the ERC,” Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.

Meralco and other power players asked the government to fill the leadership vacuum at ERC as a result of the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman to suspend its four commissioners.

The Office of the Ombudsman ordered a one-year suspension of all four commissioners―Josefina Patricia Asirit, Alfredo Non, Geronimo Sta. Ana and Gloria Yap-Taruc in December―for allegedly giving Meralco  an undue advantage when it extended the submission of its PSA applications.

Pangilinan said the ongoing impasse at the ERC would affect the timetable of the power plants.