Appeal reversal of ERC decision, OSG urged

Manila Electric Co. is ready to respond to electricity service concerns throughout the Holy Week break. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

SANTA Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, vice chairman of the House Committee on Energy, urged the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to question before the Supreme Court the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) reversing the ruling of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) that rejected the petition of power firms to raise rates.

In a letter, Fernandez asked the OSG to take the matter to the Court.

The CA on June 27, 2023 nullified an ERC ruling that denied the petitions of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

The appellate court’s 13th Division said that the ERC acted “with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction” when it thumbed down the petition of Meralco and SMC subsidiaries South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC) and San Miguel Energy Corp. (SMEC) to increase power rates by 30 centavos per kilowatt hour.

SPPC and SMEC in 2019 entered into a 10-year agreement with Meralco to supply 1,000 megawatts of capacity from the gas-fired Ilijan plant and the coal-fired Sual plant. The power supply agreements with Meralco were terminated after the ERC issued its decision.

“While demand for power supply is acute at this time, we also have the responsibility to protect consumers against price gouging,” Fernandez said in a statement.

“There are ways to meet demand that will not unduly and unreasonably raise power rates,” he added.

The lawmaker said that the two plants “are seeking to supply emergency power to Meralco.”

“I strongly urge the ERC to withhold approval of the new PSA (power supply agreement) between Meralco and SMC until after the Supreme Court resolves with finality the controversial power supply deals earlier decided by the appellate court’s 13th Division,” he said.

“This is of major concern to my constituents and all other Filipinos, as it seems that San Miguel has simply substituted a contract that paid it cheaply for electricity for exactly the same contract but this time with a much higher price,” Fernandez said.

Asked by The Manila Times to comment on Sunday, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said that the ERC, through the OSG, had filed a petition before the Court for a review of the CA’s decision. He did not say when the petition was filed.