Danessa Rivera (The
Philippine Star) - July 19, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Manila
Electric Co. (Meralco) is seeking regulatory approval for its urgent capital
spending next year.
Meralco has filed an application
with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for its proposed P15.19 billion
emergency capital expenditure for regulatory year 2020, which starts on July 1,
2019 to June 30, 2020.
The company filed a “very urgent
capex projects” to provide reliable service to its customers while waiting for
the regulatory reset of the fifth regulatory period starting July 1 to June 30,
2023.
“Meralco’s very urgent regulatory year 2020
capital expenditure application is intended to avert the foreseen emergency
situations. Primarily, these capex projects are necessary to ensure the
reliable operation of its distribution network and continuous distribution
service and connection to meet the growing needs of its more than six million
customers,” Meralco said in its filing.
The power distributor said it needs
to increase the capacity of its network as it expects its customer base to
expand to seven million and peak demand to reach 7,750 megawatts by 2020.
It also said it needs to maintain
existing assets for sustained network efficiency, reliability and power
quality.
Meanwhile, the company has also
lined up automation, innovation and technology projects to continue its
Advanced Metering Infrastructure program.
Other projects are also for
compliance with regulatory requirements and to support government projects.
Under the capex proposal, Meralco is
asking the ERC to allow it to build 21 major projects worth P4.73 billion.
The biggest major project covers the
expansion of the company’s prepaid retail electricity service and development
of meter data collection system which amounts to P879.52 million.
Meralco has also allotted P475.54
million for the relocation of electrical facilities affected by the construction
of government projects.
The rest of the major projects
include development and expansion of substations, among others.
Meanwhile, Meralco is seeking
clearance for 50 residual projects worth P10.46 billion. Residual projects are
required to maintain existing assets, improve network performance and enhance
customer service performance in the current regulatory period.
In the same application, the power
distributor said it shall also refund to customers their payments for projects
funded under the Contribution in Aid of Construction (CIAC) scheme.
“The CIAC-funded projects are
eligible for refund considering that the lines and facilities where the
customers are connected are now distribution assets as they already serve more
than one customer,” it said.
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