Meralco's P19 billion refund inadequate: ex-ERC official | ABS-CBN

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Meralco's P19 billion refund inadequate: ex-ERC official

Meralco's P19 billion refund inadequate: ex-ERC official

Alvin Elchico,

ABS-CBN News

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MANILA -- Former Energy Regulatory Commissioner Alfredo Non said the P19 billion refund offered by Meralco is just a small portion of what the utility needs to return to consumers for overcollection that allegedly goes back over a decade.

Meralco announced on Tuesday that it is already in the process of filing a formal petition to refund P19 billion covering overcollection from July 2022 to December 2024.

But Non said what is important is for the ERC to determine the final average rate of Meralco, which now stands at P1.35/kWh.

According to Non, since 2012, Meralco's rate has not been reset and the ERC needs to determine what the final rate should be.

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If the final average rate is just P1.10/kWh, Meralco needs to refund more than P100 billion, which was consistent with an earlier declaration of Senator Risa Hontiveros that Meralco should refund that amount before the Senate approves its franchise renewal.

While Meralco considers the issue of its average rate as a closed book from 2012 until early 2022, Non and his group have brought the issue to the Court of Appeals.

They insist that Meralco's average rate should be lower, and therefore the amount that it is supposed to refund should be bigger.



ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said the issue is not technically a "closed book" because the matter is still alive in the court of law.

NASECORE hits ERC

Meanwhile, consumer group NASECORE hits the ERC for the lack of initiative in the refund process.

NASECORE President Pete Ilagan says the ERC should not have waited for Meralco to file a petition for refund since it's part  of its job to regulate utilities.

Ilagan says consumers are going to be disadvantaged in this situation since it's as if Meralco is now dictating how much it should refund instead of ERC determining how much overcollection should be returned to consumers.

ERC Chair Dimalanta earlier explained that Meralco's P19 billion petition to refund will still undergo checking by its technical experts and may be higher or lower depending on the results of the evaluation.

Before the evaluation can be finished, the ERC may also issue a provisional authority to commence the refund process.

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