By Danessa Rivera (The
Philippine Star) | Updated July 11, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The Power
Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is seeking regulatory
approval for power rate adjustments to cover the stranded debt of the National
Power Corp. (Napocor) as well as the fuel and foreign exchange costs incurred
last year.
In its first filing, PSALM wants to
recover P27.67 billion worth of stranded debt of Napocor in 2015 to end-users
across the country through the universal charge (UC).
It proposed to recover the said
amount in 9.5 years, equivalent to an additional UC-stranded debt (UC-SD) rate
of P0.0283 (2.83 centavos) per kilowatt-hour (kwh).
PSALM said the rate was calculated
based on the 977,206 gigawatt-hour (gwh) projected energy sales from January
2017 to June 2026.
PSALM is the entity created under
the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, the law that restructured the
power industry by privatizing the government-owned assets under the Napocor.
Under the law, it is allowed to
recover through UC the payment of Napocor’s stranded debt and stranded contract
costs.
Napocor’s stranded contract cost
refers to the excess of the contracted cost of electricity under the eligible
contracts of Napocor with independent power producers over the actual selling
price of the contracted energy output of such contracts in the market.
Meanwhile, stranded debts refer to
any unpaid financial obligations which have not been liquidated by the proceeds
from the sales and privatization of Napocor assets.
PSALM pays for its operations, as
well as Napocor debts and obligations, through privatization of generating
assets, sales of electricity from remaining assets and borrowings.
“If PSALM will be allowed to
immediately recover the UC-SD under this petition through provisional approval,
new loans and refinancing to service maturing debts and lease obligations would
lessen. This would redound to the benefit of electricity end-users due to
reduced borrowing costs, effectively reducing the UC burden,” it said.
In another filing, PSALM is seeking
approval for a refund of P69.47 million to Luzon customers, a recovery of
P161.74 million from Visayas end-users and a refund of P2.11 billion to
Mindanao consumers under its application for Adjustments of Fuel and Purchased
Power Costs and Foreign Exchange covering the 2015 period.
The adjustment, which will be for
one year, is equivalent to a rate decrease of P1.70 per kwh in Luzon, an
increase of P0.44 per kwh in Visayas and a decline of P0.37 per kWh in Visayas.
For the fuel purchase costs, PSALM
said the application covers the Malaya Thermal Power Plant in Luzon; Power
Barges 101, 102 and 103 in Visayas; and PB 104, IPPs Southern Philippines Power
Corp. and Western Mindanao Power Corp.
Meanwhile, foreign exchange related
costs are computed as the difference between the principal debt payments using
the actual exchange rate as of payment date and using the base foreign exchange
of P44.0494 to a dollar.
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