Consumer groups: Ban SMC from future power service deals
A Meralco official told Daily Tribune that it would be up to the Energy Regulatory Commission to decide on the penalties or the proposed ban on SMC
Photo/Analy Labor
After unilaterally dropping its power supply agreement with distributor Meralco, the harshest of sanctions that include a ban from participating in any bid for supply contracts should be slapped on San Miguel Corp., consumer groups said yesterday.
The groups opposing the SMC power rate hike petition said the company exchanged its profit motive for the welfare of Filipinos and at the same time mocked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who expressed a wish for electricity bills not to increase at least during the Christmas season.
A Meralco official told Daily Tribune that it would be up to the Energy Regulatory Commission to decide on the penalties or the proposed ban on SMC as a result of abandoning the PSA.
Marcos, addressing the Court of Appeals' temporary restraining order on the Energy Regulatory Commission's upholding of the PSA provisions between San Miguel Global Power units South Premiere Power Corp. and SMC Energy Corp. with Meralco, said postponing the power rate increase until next year would significantly benefit consumers severely impacted by the rising costs of basic goods and services.
WESM purchases start
ERC computed the potential increase in monthly power bills at around P60 to P80 a month with the 670 megawatts that SMC had stopped supplying Meralco starting 7 December.
Energy Regulatory Commission chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta lamented that the move, which forced Meralco to source power supply from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, will jack up electricity prices in the coming months.
Dimalanta, citing the ERC's computations, said a typical household consuming 200 kilowatt-hours may expect "P60 to P80 additional for the month."
Based on ERC records of Meralco billings for November, the 670-MW supply from SPPC accounted for 13.4 percent of the power distributor's supply and was priced at P4.245 per kilowatt-hour. The average WESM price for the same period was P8.47/kWh.
"If we look at our computation, especially on the 13 percent I mentioned a price at P4.30 if it will be sourced from WESM. Just last month, the WESM price averaged at P8.50 or let's say P9," Dimalanta explained.