Ball on ERC’s court over regulatory reset
NGCP’s fourth regulatory period is for the years 2016 to 2020, while the fifth regulatory period is for the years 2021 to 2025
(FILE PHOTO)
photograph courtesy of NGCP
Daily TribuneNGCP’s fourth regulatory period is for the years 2016 to 2020, while the fifth regulatory period is for the years 2021 to 2025
(FILE PHOTO)
photograph courtesy of NGCP
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has ordered the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the country’s lone transmission operator, to complete 70 new projects, such as the Batangas-Mindoro Interconnection Project and the Northern Luzon 230-kiloVolt Loop, to address the rising electricity demand nationwide.
The NGCP, however, had already indicated that it may face challenges in generating the necessary capital for future projects pending approval for the transmission operator to recover billions of pesos in investments.
When questioned by reporters about the potential impact of the delayed approval of future projects, NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said “yes,” indicating that the lack of authorizations could influence upcoming initiatives.
“It’s kind of delayed. Our last regulatory reset was for the period ending 2015 and the fourth regulatory period should have started in 2016. We are in the middle of the fifth regulatory period. NGCP has been waiting for quite a long time but we still hope that it will come out and whatever comes out will be fair and will encourage investors in NGCP,” she added.
Now the ball is in the hands of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), an agency tasked to regulate the power sector.
ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said the agency will soon decide on NGCP’s fourth regulatory period rate reset.
Dimalanta, however, was quick to add that some costs from NGCP’s completed projects will “traverse” to its fifth regulatory period rate reset, especially those that were only completed after 2022.
NGCP wants to start recovering about P87.7 billion for the two power lines that it recently completed to help sustain the business.