Meralco looking at bidding out power requirements

Business Mirror by Lenie Lectura - November 2, 2015

SEEKING a court order to stop the implementation of a policy that mandates all distribution utilities (DUs) and electric cooperatives (ECs) to bid out their power requirements instead of entering into bilateral contracts is an option the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) may consider when the appropriate time comes.

“Well, it’s something we don’t like to use but I hope people will see through it, whether the CSP [Competitive Selection Process] makes sense or not. We don’t think it’s promoting consumer welfare,” Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said when asked if the utility firm will consider legal actions.

Pangilinan’s statement comes after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) failed to release on October 27 the implementing guidelines (IG) for the CSP, a landmark policy of former Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla.

Under DOE Circular 2015-06-008, the ERC has 120 days from issuance of the policy to release the rules governing the CSP.

But it was the Department of Energy (DOE) that requested a meeting with the ERC before any announcement was made by both agencies. However, the meeting could not take place prior to the October 27 deadline because the agency’s newly appointed secretary was out of the country for a business trip.

Zenaida Monsada replaced Petilla, who signed the controversial DOE circular before he left office in June.

“We will defer any announcement on the CSP as we prepare for the meeting requested by the DOE secretary,” Salazar said in a text message on October 28.

The meeting is scheduled on November 4. “As a courtesy to the DOE, the members of the commission agreed to the request,” Salazar said.

The ERC chief could not say if the IG would be issued right after the meeting. However, Salazar said there would be “an appropriate announcement on the matter after the meeting is held.”

A highlyplaced source said the DOE was considering to move the October 27 deadline to make way for further studies of highly contentious issues while another source said the ERC was ready at that time to release the rules if only the DOE had not requested for a meeting.

While Monsada was on a business trip last week, Salazar was still on leave “to handle some personal concerns” on the day the commission was expected to issue the guidelines. Therefore, no one wanted to comment on the supposed delay of the issuance of the rules.

Later on the same day, ERC Executive Director Francis Saturnino Juan, in a text message, said the matter was “still being deliberated by the commission.” Meralco, in a recent public hearing prior to the October 27 deadline, had asked for an extension but was turned down.

Ronald Vallez, a Meralco lawyer, told officials during the public hearing that they need not rush the issuance of the IG amid the alarming concerns raised by various stakeholders. source