by Myrna Velasco June
17, 2016 (updated)
A Pasig regional trial
court (RTC) has granted the petition of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) for a
temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the Energy Regulatory Commission
(ERC) from enforcing for the time being its newly issued rules on retail
competition and open access (RCOA) and previous Circulars of the Department of
Energy (DOE) for the restructured electricity sector.
A ruling penned by
Pasig RTC Presiding Judge Gregorio L. Vega Jr., has stipulated that the TRO
“shall be effective for a period of 20 days from service to respondents DOE and
ERC of this Order together with a bond to be posted by the petitioner,
amounting to P1.0 million in cash or surety.”
In issuing the TRO, the
RTC primarily recognizes the rights of petitioner-Meralco on its local retail
electricity supplier (Local RES) business segment as upheld in the previous ERC
rulings and as provided under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA)
and its implementing rules and regulations.
Contestable customers
are end-users that can already exercise their power of choice in purchasing or
contracting their respective electricity supply. The initial threshold was set
at 1.0 megawatt on a voluntary basis of implementation.
Nevertheless, the court
reckoned that an “impending damage or injury which is quantifiable will not
justify the issuance of the injunctive relief prayed for by the petitioner.” In
the ruling, it was stipulated that during the passage of the EPIRA, “it was
evident that Congress intended for distribution utilities like the petitioner
to participate as suppliers of electricity,” under the RCOA regime.
The same was
purportedly expressed in DOE Circulars in 2012 and 2013; and the ERC
resolutions from 2005 to 2013.
But in the July 1, 2016
resolution of the ERC, the local RES function of DUs like that of Meralco’s
MPower had been correspondingly omitted, hence, the petitioner took its legal
recourse with the courts.
The court so far had
given weight to Meralco’s stipulation that previous rules and DOE issuances
recognizing its Local RES MPower had been “effectively amended or curtailed by
aforesaid recent questioned issuances of respondents DOE and ERC without legal
basis and in violation of petitioner’s aforementioned rights.”
MPower’s allegation of
financial loss has also been taken into consideration in the Pasig RTC’s
verdict; as well as the higher cost impact on its captive customers.
“The prohibition or
restriction imposed on the petitioner and MPower directly translates into a
major loss of its investments in capital, personnel, technical equipment and
other related peripherals arising out of the unbundling of its regulated and
unregulated activities in compliance with requirements earlier issued by
DOE/ERC,” but which were just negated in recently issued rules.
No comments:
Post a Comment