MARIING itinanggi ng Manila Electric Company (Meralco) ang anila’y walang basehang pahayag ni Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez na ang distribution utility ay nag-overcharge sa kanilang customers simula noong 2012.

Pinabulaanan ni Meralco First Vice President and Regulatory Management Head Atty. Jose Ronald Valles ang alegasyon ng overcharging, iginiit na ang rates ay sumailalim sa review and confirmation process upang matiyak na ito ay fair and reasonable, katulad ng ibang distributors.

Binigyang-diin ng Meralco na wala itong ‘power to unilaterally set its own rates’. Ang lahat anila ng rates na ‘reflected’ sa electricity bills ng customers ay aprubado ng regulator kasunod ng ‘very stringent and transparent process’ ng mga pampublikong pagdinig.

“I would like to reiterate that as a highly regulated entity, Meralco strictly adheres to the rules governing its operations and franchise and the rates we implement always have prior approval from the regulator. A testament to the strict review, these rates are still subject to periodic confirmation process by the ERC,” pahayag ni Valles.

“The proper venue for discussing the refund claims is the ERC, which has the rate-setting power and the regulator has already decided on a refund totaling P48 billion, which Meralco implemented in a timely manner,” dagdag niya.

Sinabi ng Meralco, ang mambabatas ay naka-focus sa Meralco bagama’t makikita sa records na ang Meralco sa katunayan, ay private distribution utility (DU) lamang na nagsagawa ng distribution refund bilang pagsunod sa direktiba ng ERC.

Habang sa alegasyon ni Rep. Fernandez na ang Meralco ay may “extremely high weighted average cost of capital”, binigyang diin ng Meralco na ang pagtatakda ng weighted average cost of capital (WACC) ay function ng regulator.

Ang Meralco’s last approved WACC ang pinakamababang WACC na ibinigay ng regulator sa ilalim ng Performance-Based Regulation (PBR), para sa NGCP man o para sa private DU.

Ang WACC ay nadedetermina base sa ‘set of rules’ na sumailalim sa public consultation at masusing rebyu ng ERC. Ang WACC ay industry WACC na inaaplay sa lahat ng private DUs sa kaparehong kategorya at hindi company specific.

Karagdagan nito, ang Meralco ay walang determined WACC mula pa noong Hulyo 2015 dahil walang completed rate reset sa panahon ng regulatory period hanggang sa kasalukuyan.

Dagdag pa rito, ayon sa Meralco, sa recent study ng International Energy Consultants, sinabing ang rate ng Meralco ay ‘fair and reasonable’ dahil ito ay naka-reflect sa tunay na halaga ng kuryente kumpara sa ibang mga bansa na ang power costs ay heavily subsidized ng kanilang gobyerno.

Ito ay resulta ng constant effort ng kumpanya “to source the least cost available supply through, among others, the conduct of a transparent competitive selection process (CSP)”.

Bago isinagawa ang CSP, ang Meralco ay humiling ng pag-aapruba mula sa Department of Energy (DOE) sa kanilang Power Supply Procurement Plan at sa Terms of Reference (TOR) ng kanilang proposed CSP, upang matiyak na ito ay naka-align sa requirements and standards na itinakda ng gobyerno.

“This is contrary to the baseless and malicious claims that Meralco’s TOR is tailor-fitted to favor select generation companies,” pahayag ni Valles.

“Our past CSPs conducted are proof that no such tailor-fitting is happening, precisely because the TOR and other bidding documents are required to comply with existing policies of DOE and regulations of ERC, and the resulting Power Supply Agreement needs to be approved by regulator,” dagdag niya.

Sa katunayan aniya, ang ongoing CSP ng Meralco ay rebidding lamang ng valid CSP sa isinagawa noong 2020.

Ngunit ang PSAs na resulta ng original CSP ay na-terminate ng dalawang winning power suppliers bunsod ng kawalan ng ERC approval sa mahigit dalawang taon.

“The new CSP simply reiterated most of the provisions in the previous TOR that has been approved by DOE and its terms strictly followed the previous guidance of DOE particularly with respect to the requirement to limit the bidding to greenfield power plants to encourage new capacities, thereby ensuring security of supply and lowest cost to consumers,” paliwanag ng Meralco.

Base sa records, mayroon nang anim na kumpanya na nagpahayag ng kanilang interes na lumahok, nagpapatunay na mayroong kumpetisyon at ang Meralco ay maaaring makuha ang ‘least cost supply’ para sa kanilang customs sa pamamagitan ng proseso.

“The CSP is a very transparent process, and the resulting PSAs from this bidding will still be subject to the review and approval of the ERC,” pagtatapos ni Valles.