PSALM defers Universal charge filing

Manila Bulletin 
By Myrna M. Velasco 
Published: July 2, 2013 
With its financial stature being under the glare of media lenses and public scrutiny, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) has opted to defer its filing for new universal charges (UC) until its figures would have been validated by the Commission on Audit.
“PSALM has requested for extension of filing in order to complete documentation requirements as some will have to be secured outside of PSALM,” company president Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. has noted.
He added that the requirement will include “the certification of variance analysis reports from (an) independent third party,” which Ledesma noted to be the COA.
The liability-ridden firm was supposed to file last month its new application for universal charges covering stranded debts (SD) and stranded contract costs (SCC) that it will pass on to all electricity ratepayers, but it pushed back from it for the meantime.
Some industry stakeholders opined though that Ledesma may have been avoiding public backlash at this point when various attached agencies and corporate entities of the Department of Energy (DOE) are undergoing restructuring.
In the last ruling rendered by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the company was just given go-signal to pass on P53.58 billion worth of stranded contract costs under the UC line item for an equivalent of P0.1938 per kilowatt hour.
Its P65-billion bid for stranded debts recovery was junked by the power industry regulator; hence, the UC collections penciled in by the company may just reach P11 billion annually over four years instead of the targeted P20 billion.
PSALM has been justifying that cost recovery for its stranded liabilities are allowed under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act; as these formed part of the costs utilized in putting up power projects.
To cushion any portended “heavy impact on consumers’ pockets,” the company went as far as asking Congress to have its corporate life extended by additional 10 years or until 2036.
Based on its calculations, if its UC cost recoveries will be stretched, the pass on rate may be softened to P0.1426 per kWh.
It indicated that within that level of UC, the company may rake in additional revenues to the tune of: P9.6 billion this 2013; P9.9 billion (2014); P10.3 billion (2015); P10.7 billion (2016); P11.1 billion (2017); P11.5 billion (2018); P11.9 billion (2019); P12.5 billion (2020); P13.2 billion (2021); P13.9 billion (2022); P14.6 billion (2023); P15.4 billion (2024); P16.2 billion (2025); and P17.1 billion (2026-2036).
If the UC will not be levelized, PSALM estimated that its required cost recoveries for 2013 alone may reach P0.2551 per kWh.
Onward, the UC pass-on will be P0.2145 per kWh in 2014; P0.3137 per kWh in 2015; P0.4669 per kWh in 2016; P0.2996 per kWh in 2017; P0.1642 per kWh in 2018; P0.4899 per kWh in 2019; P0.1819 per kWh in 2020; and P0.0926 in 2024.   source