SMC Plans to Continue Supplying Meralco’s Power

In light of the  Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) rejection of the application for a rate hike of SMC Global Power Holdings Corporation (SMCGP) and the  Manila Electric Company (Meralco), SMCGP will carry on supplying power to Meralco to prevent service interruptions for the consumers.

SMC has mentioned that “We will do everything we can to make sure Meralco’s energy supply is not disrupted. Despite the present challenges, we will never withhold our available power capacity to the detriment of the country and the consumers,”

They add that they will “continue to explore other legal remedies to allow us to sustainably provide for the increasing power needs of our country while meeting our obligations to our various stakeholders.”

On the topic of the rate hike application denial, SMCGP said that “We regret the ERC denial of our joint petition with Meralco for temporary relief on our 2019 power supply agreements (PSAs), not so much for our own interest but more for the consumers,”

They also mentioned that “the temporary relief would have enabled us to preserve few of the last remaining fixed-rate PSAs of Meralco that are responsible for keeping power rates in Metro Manila low compared to other parts of the country, amid surging global fuel prices.”

The SMCGP had cited Meralco’s computation on the joint rate adjustment applicated which was also validated by the ERC’s Regulatory Operations Office.

They went further to say that “the ERC-ROS itself confirmed that the commission does not have any other data or information that could contradict or disprove the computations and simulations submitted by Meralco.”

Source: Manila Bulletin