Palace confirms Dimalanta exit as ERC chief

Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chairperson and CEO Monalisa Dimalanta has filed her “irrevocable resignation,” Malacañang confirmed Monday.

Appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in July 2022, Dimalanta was originally set to serve a seven-year term until July 2029.

Her resignation follows a tumultuous year marked by a preventive suspension over a complaint filed by the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc., which accused her of failing to act on Meralco’s distribution rate recalculation.

The Ombudsman lifted the suspension early, saying the grounds for it “no longer exist.”

Despite the controversy, Dimalanta led several key reforms during her tenure. She approved a P28.29-billion transmission rate hike for the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, launched a consumer-focused Power Supply Procurement Toolkit, and forged a data-sharing agreement with the Department of Energy to improve policy and regulatory coordination.

Under her leadership, the ERC accelerated permitting processes, cleared over 6,000 megawatts in new power projects, and intensified enforcement actions to strengthen transparency and accountability in the energy sector.