ERC: Meralco’s refund decision out next week

March 7, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is set to issue its decision on Manila Electric Co. (Meralco)’s P19-billion refund petition in the coming week, offering welcome relief to its customers.

“We are targeting to release the order next week,” ERC chairperson and CEO Monalisa Dimalanta said in a Viber message to The STAR.

This followed Meralco’s refund application before the ERC last month in compliance with an earlier order that declared July 2022 to June 2025 as the power giant’s lapsed period.

Meralco has proposed a refund of about P19.1 billion, which covers the difference between its actual weighted average tariff and the last approved rate of P1.35 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from July 2022 to December 2024.

Under its proposed scheme, the company intends to implement the refund within 36 months or until fully refunded. This is equivalent to around P0.19 per kWh reduction for residential customers.

The refund rate will be reflected as a separate line item in the electricity bills of customers during the refund period.

Dimalanta, meanwhile, declined to comment on whether there would be adjustments to Meralco’s computations.

While awaiting final approval of its application, Meralco has asked the regulator to issue a provisional authority to “immediately implement” the refund to its customers.

Earlier, the ERC ordered Meralco to host virtual hearings for the determination of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements, expository presentation, pre-trial conference and presentation of evidence.

“Meralco shall guarantee that during the conduct of the expository presentation, the participation of the public shall not be impaired,” the order stated.

At a press briefing last month, Meralco utility economics chief Larry Fernandez said the power distributor was expecting to implement the refund as early as “March or April” this year.

In another development, the ERC is advancing its efforts to implement a lower threshold under the government’s retail competition and open access (RCOA) program.

The commission wants to expand the RCOA coverage and reduce the threshold to 100 kW, empowering more consumers to choose their electricity suppliers.

Recently, the ERC conducted focus group discussions with key energy stakeholders to develop a “comprehensive roadmap” for lowering the eligibility threshold to the household level.

Under the prevailing threshold, only consumers with an average monthly peak demand of at least 500 kW for the preceding 12 months are eligible to contract with any authorized electricity supplier on a voluntary basis.

In a previous interview, Dimalanta said the ERC was looking to lower the RCOA threshold as early as 2027.