Meralco ordered to refund P7.8 billion in excess collections

Meralco logo. | EDWIN BACASMAS

MANILA, Philippines — Customers may get a slight relief in electricity bills as the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to return P7.8 billion in excess collections in the next 12 months.

This means each Meralco customer would be entitled to a refund amounting to P0.47 per kilowatt hour (kWh), equivalent to P93 for a residential customer with monthly consumption of 200 kWh.

Meralco assured customers it will comply with the regulatory agency’s order and the refund will start this month.

“We confirm the receipt of the ERC’s order dated March 8 on the refund of distribution-related charges totaling P7.8 billion,” said Joe Zaldarriaga, vice president for communications of Meralco, in a Viber message.

“The refund, which is equivalent to P0.47 per kWh for residential customers, will appear as a separate line item in the power bills starting May,” he added.

The ERC issued the order at Meralco’s request for interim relief, stemming from its recomputation of the power distributor’s regulatory asset base (RAB) covering 2012 to 2015 that resulted in over-recovery or over-collection for that period.

TSB