The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has ordered Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to refund its customers Php21.769 billion due to the recent outages.
This refund amount is said to be derived from the overcollection accrued from Meralco’s tariff adjustments from July 2015 to June 2022, which meant a reduction of Php0.87 per kilowatt-hour for its presidential customers.
According to the 68-page order, dated June 16 and received by Meralco on July 5, it outlines that the refund will be applied to the bills of Meralco customers for July, which will be used immediately.
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After reviewing Meralco’s last regulatory reset, the ERC justified this refund. The final computation revealed the refund amount based on the electric firm’s over-recoveries from the previous seven years.
According to Chairperson Agnes T. Devanadera of the ERC, “We made adjustments to the regulatory asset base (RAB) and recomputed the interim average rate (IAR). We wanted to ensure that all over-recoveries shall be refunded complete with interest,”
ERC ordered Meralco to distribute a Php21.8 billion refund to its customers by the end of the year or until the amount is fully refunded. This includes stating the refund rate clearly on the customer’s bill during the refund period so that they know how much has been refunded.
According to Meralco’s VP of Corporate Affairs, Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco is following ERC’s order and is “studying the order” to apply the refund to the July bill as soon as possible.
“It is possible, though, that the refund will offset the expected increase in generation charges and will result in a decrease in the overall rate for July, even though we have yet to receive supplier billings.” — Joe Zaldarriaga.
