After being ordered to refund P9.5 billion to over eight million consumers due to overcollections, power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has been given approval to collect about P8.71 billion for unrecovered pass-through charges, including some costs linked to system loss, covering three years.
Based on the decision of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the Manuel V. Pangilinan-led company was allowed to recover P7.3 billion for generation, P615.93 million for transmission, P595.05 million for system loss, and P228.87 million for real property tax.
The collection period will run for 36 months, the ERC said although it stressed that Meralco, the country’s largest electricity distributor, will not earn from these charges. Instead, the P8.71 billion will be remitted to power generation firms, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines for transmission, and government agencies for taxes and subsidies.
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“[These] are meant to be revenue-neutral for distribution utilities—these are not sources of profit, but merely costs that Meralco collects on behalf of generation companies, the transmission provider and government authorities, and simply passes on to consumers,” ERC Chair Francis Saturnino Juan said in a statement on Monday.FEATURED STORIES
