ERC denies NGCP transmission rate reset
The Energy Regulatory Commission denied the petition of transmission concessionaire National Grid Corporation of the Philippines to postpone the fourth regulatory period transmission rate reset.
In denying the petition, the ERC said: "There is nothing to roll forward from one regulatory period into the next regulatory period if no such evaluation of actual expenditures were to be undertaken for the fourth regulatory period."
The ERC also noted that the denial of the petition does not impede NGCP to file its application on the basis of its understanding of the amended RTWR.
ERC, thus, gave NGCP a non-extendable period of 15 calendar days from receipt of the agency's order to file its reset application.
"We received the ERC's latest order. Offhand, there seem to be a few points of disagreement which will have a substantive impact on proceedings. We are still exploring our options," the NGCP said in a separate statement on Friday.
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"We are optimistic that the ERC will be fair in its treatment of all energy industry players," it added.
Last September, the power regulator amended the Rules for Setting Transmission Wheeling Rates, which the NGCP follows in charging transmission rates to consumers.
It rules cover the rate reset for the fourth and fifth regulatory periods — from 2016 to 2022 and 2023 to 2027, respectively.
However, last October, NGCP challenged the ERC's rules amendment and filed an Omnibus Motion. The China-backed transmission operator argued that provisions in the amended RTWR were made in "haste and without public consultation."
The ERC, on the other hand, assured that if the fourth regulatory period rate reset of NGCP relapses, it will be treated differently because the costs that will be applied for will not be based on forecasts but on actual expenditures.
Transmission reset is regularly done to check whether the allowed revenues of NGCP approved seven years ago are still valid, reasonable, and reflective of the current costs for consumers.
The last transmission reset was done for regulatory periods covering 2011 to 2015.
